Elemental Angels
by Cellophane Soldier
Summary: I have been on the run for four years. Now it's time to fight back. Liz is your average run away. Or is she? Follow the story of a girl with the ability to fly and control fire. Not good at summaries give a chance. First story, so please read and review! Chapter 50 is now up! If anyone has a better summary for it, just PM me!
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fan fic, so please review an let me know what you think.**

Chapter One: Liz

It's funny how when you're used to being looked over how weird it feels to finally be seen. I had just gone into a small village to buy some supplies. That's where he saw me. I was in line to buy refills for my salt and spices. The boy was standing not too far away from me, leaning on a wall. He was in a soldier's outfit, complete with sword and all. He had dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. He had a kind face, looked slightly muscular and fairly broad shouldered. I could tell that he was actually seeing me, not just looking through the space that I was occupying. I smile at him, hoping that he would think that I was just a normal person. That's when I saw the poster he was standing next to. It was a wanted poster. My wanted poster.

Before you make assumptions about me, let me tell you why I'm wanted. On the poster, it says "For crimes against the Queen." No one questions what these crimes are or which queen it was committed against. My crime was that I survived. I escaped. The queen it was committed against isn't even the actual queen. She took over eleven years ago after she killed the royal family.

So, when I saw him looking at me and the poster, I knew I was in trouble. I tried to walk away without looking like I was running away. I guess it didn't work. He started to follow me on my way to the woods. When I was out of sight, I turned invisible. Not _really_ invisible, but mundanes wouldn't be able to see me. I stood stalk still because they could still see me move stuff around. A few seconds later, he appeared again. He looked right at me again. I thought that he was just looking through me, but then me started walking toward me. I started to run, but he caught me before I had gotten ten feet.

I could have escaped him easily, but it didn't seem fair. This boy was no older than me, and he was expecting me to be just a normal girl. As much as I would have loved to prove him wrong, I didn't fight back. I had thought of a better idea.

I could escape the prison just as easily as I could have escaped the boy. I would let them tell the Queen that they had me. Then she would know my position. But I would be long gone by the time she received the message. So I let him take me back to the prison. I pretended to fight back and act disappointed that I had gotten caught. Well, I didn't have to pretend that I was disappointed. I just had to hide the bewilderment.

It had been years since some one who wasn't in my circle had actually seen me. You might think that I am in a cult or something. I'm not. My circle, though incomplete, consists of three others of my kind. That makes four of us. We need six to stand a chance against the Queen. My circle and I are connected telepathically. I had to shut that part of my brain down when I turned invisible. I decided to keep it off when I got captured so that they wouldn't get worried.

I turned visible again when we got back to the village. I wanted this new plan to work, and I didn't want make everyone think that the boy was crazy. I needed to figure out how he had seen me, and for that I needed him. This close to him, I could tell that he had a strong chin. He was also more muscular than he had first appeared, and slightly less broad shouldered.

By the time we actually got to the prison, the boy had said nothing to me. When he told the warden that he had caught _the_ Elizabeth Firesword, the warden went ecstatic. He kept thanking the boy for helping. _Why are you thanking him like that?_ I thought. _Isn't it his job to catch criminals?_

I was thrown in a cell immediately. A wooden cell. _Well,_ _this will make breaking out easier. _They didn't post a guard outside of my celluntil they brought me my first meal. It was awful, just hardly cooked rice and some type of soup that looked like it had nothing in it but water. I tried talking to the guard, asking questions about the town. He never responded, so I gave up. I sat in silence in my cell for what felt like days, but was probably only a few hours. That's when I saw the boy again. He was still in the soldier outfit, but this time he didn't have his sword.

He took the next shift as my guard. And the one after that. And the one after that. I watched him for the first few hours. I studied his habits, how he paced across the floor and fiddled with the keys to my cell when bored. I was trying to learn about him, but he gave nothing away. So I tried a different approach.

"How did you recognize me?" I asked with a tone of hurt pride. I wanted to sound like I was praising and insulting him at the same time, but it just came out with a praising tone.

"I was standing right next to your poster. Also, your reward is so high that the King has asked all of his soldiers to keep an eye out for you," He responded. He acted like catching me was no big deal. But it was. I had only been caught once before, but that had been ten years earlier.

For the next few minutes, nothing was said. I was about to ask him his name when he asked, "Why are you wanted, anyway?"

I wanted to tell him the real reason, but he wouldn't have believed me. No one ever did. So, instead I said, "For crimes against the Queen." He didn't buy it. The look on his face looked as if he was asking _Do you really think I am that stupid?_ But instead, he said "What crimes?"

That's when I decided to tell him. Not the whole story, just the parts he needed to hear. "I escaped. I ran away before she could catch me and marry me off to her son, Nathanial."

"Posters of you have been up for years, and you are hardly of marrying age." He was smarter than I had given him credit for. Not many people actually read the name of the wanted person, just look at the picture. My picture had been changing as I grew older, but it changed enough so that hardly anyone would know I was the fourteen year old girl who had "run away" four years earlier.

"So, why does your charge keep changing? Last year you were wanted for theft, but now its just 'crimes against the Queen'." Well, I knew this had been inevitable. If he had realized that I had been wanted for four years, then I knew he would have notice that my charges were changing.

"They change because the Queen doesn't want anyone to know that she still hasn't found me. It would be humiliating to let the public know that a eighteen year old girl had been evading her for four years." I knew this would affect him, I just didn't know how. His face showed the amusement of a boy who had just been praised for something he didn't do.

"So then why did I catch you? If you've been on the run for four years, you're probably very good at evasion." It was a praise, an insult, and a question all in one.

I was about to answer when the other guard came back. "Your shift is over," He said. "I'll take it from here."

"See you later, then," the boy said before he left.

The next few hours were the worst in a really long time. The silence was suffocating. I just sat there, waiting for the other boy's shift. That's when I got an idea. I spent the rest of this guard's shift playing tricks on him.

Every few minutes, I flashed my "angry" eyes at him. He would stumble back, gasping. Then I would turn invisible. "Where did you go?" the guard yelled the first few times. I would always reappear within seconds, just enough time so he would know that I disappeared. I was right in the middle of this cycle, the being invisible part, when the first guard walked in. Right then, the second guard snapped at me. "Stop it with these devilish tricks! Show yourself!"

"She's right in front of you," the first guard said. That's when I turned visible again. The guy gasped again and fell against the wall. He started murmuring to himself about how I was a demon in disguise.

"If it's this much trouble for you, I can take all of her shifts until someone comes for her"

"Thank you, sir. Thank you," The second guard ran away as fast as he could. "What's his problem?" I asked the first guard. He just stared at me, like maybe the other guard might have been right. Then he just sat down in front of my cell, facing me.

"My name is Daniel," he said. "It looks like I'm going to be your permanent guard for a while, so you might as well know my name."

**Chapter two is ready once i know people have actually read this! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Danny

The next week was the best of my life. I felt happy, an emotion I hadn't felt in a long time. Not since the battle. Everyone thinks that becoming a war hero and getting noticed by the princess would make life great. It doesn't. I hadn't had a moment to myself since the war. Not until I took the job of searching for an outlaw rumored to be in our area.

Taking that job was the best decision of my life. I finally have some one who actually listens to what I say. Some one who cares what I think. My whole life, everyone just told me what to think.

I spent the whole week in the jail, talking with Liz. I wanted to know why she was wanted, but she still won't tell me. She just says "Crimes against the Queen," then changes the subject. She is very cryptic about her life, and while I feel I know more about her than anyone else, I know almost nothing about her life.

"What are you thinking about?" Liz asked me. She was staring at me with a quizzical smile.

"I'm thinking about how you won't tell me anything about your life when I have told you almost everything about mine." Her smile disappeared instantly.

Luckily for her, Mason walked in before I could push for more answers. "Daniel, a representative from the Queen is here to see the girl." When he said this, I thought that Liz looked scared, but it could have just been my imagination.

"Which Queen?" She asked shakily.

"Yours," Mason said with disgust. "And you must refer to me as 'sir.'" Liz's face turned fire red, and I could have sworn that I saw smoke coming off of her bright red hair. It looked like her head was on fire, but that wasn't possible. No one could actually create fire just from anger.

"It's okay, Mason. Thank you, but please return to your post." Mason sulked from the room. I knew I was going to hear about this later.

"I have to get out of here," Liz said, her voice shaking. I suddenly felt bad for her, and I wanted to let her out so that she wouldn't look that scared.

"I really wish I could let you go, but it's just not possible with out a trial, which we can't hold with out your Queen." I knew that I was just making matters worse, but I felt like I had to say something. I would have rambled on if I hadn't seen the look on her face. It was the look of defeat and lost hope.

"I'm going to stay until the representative is through with me, but then I'm breaking out. I'm sorry Danny, but there is no other way" She sounded like this pained her, like her breaking out would inconvenience me, not her.

"Well, good luck with that," I said sarcastically. She looked at me like I was crazy.

"You don't think that I can do it, do you?" I was spared having to answer that question, because right then a young man who was probably Liz's age walked in. He had ink black hair with eyes like coals. He looked like the perfect soldier, except for the foolish look on his face as he said "Hello, Elizabeth. How are you?"

That's when I heard Liz say what I least expected to hear. "Very well, and you, Nathanial?"

"You're the prince?" I exclaimed with shock. Nathanial just looked at me.

"So you told him who I was? How very unlike you, Elizabeth. You never tell anyone anything, but you tell a stranger who your prince and betrothed is."

I thought that Liz was going to explode then. I could see blood dripping from her clenched hands. Her voice was like steel when she replied, "You are neither my prince nor betrothed. And Danny is less of a stranger to me than you are."

"We shall see about that. I came just to make sure that it was actually you. We have had many fakes because people want the reward. The Queen will be here in a few days, with the proper guards to take you home."

"Well, then I should get ready. You may leave now, Nathanial."

I thought that Nathanial was going to hit her. "I am in charge of your fate. You should try showing me a bit of kindness."

Liz didn't reply, she just curled into her corner and looked him defiantly. Nathanial huffed and said, "I will be back for you in two days time. Try to enjoy your last forty eight hours of freedom."

Then he just walked away. If I hadn't known that Mason would kill me if I attacked the guest, I would have charged after him. Instead, I just stared and said, "He really thinks he's the center of the universe, doesn't he?"

Liz smiled at me as she said, "He's about to get a taste of reality. You can't always get what you want,"

"So you're really leaving soon?" I wanted her to say no, that she would stay for me. But I knew the answer before she said it.

"I have to. There is no way in hell I am going anywhere with Nathanial."

"So what's your plan for escape?" I asked, thinking there was no way she would tell me.

"If you can light a torch in here, I'll show you," She said. She sounded resigned, like she hadn't wanted to do this, but circumstances had forced her to.

"Well, that is a reasonable request. I will be right back." I smiled to myself as I walked away. What did she think she could do with a torch? It's not like I was going to give it to her.

I returned a few minutes later with a lit torch to find Liz standing outside of her cell. The door didn't look like it had been forced, but I wasn't an expert on that subject. "How did you get out?" I asked.

"A magician never reveals her secrets. I'm not a magician, but the same rules apply here," She responded quickly. "Now are you going to give me that torch, or will I have to fight you for it?" She sounded agitated, like she really didn't want to do this.

"I'll give it to you on one condition," I said, a plan forming in my mind. "I get to come with you."

"You really want to be a wanted fugitive? " I nodded and muttered a quick yes. "Well, then I really don't see the harm," She took the torch from my grasp and through it into her cell.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"I'm covering my tracks."

"By starting a fire?" I said quizzically.

"By leaving a torch in the cell."

This made no sense to me, but I decided to go with it. "So where are we going? I'll go anywhere, as long as it's away from this place."

"Why do you hate this place so much? I would kill to have a place to call home. Not literally, though," Her voice had filled with longing until she made the joke at the end.

"Everyone thinks that I have everything that I could want here, when the truth is I never wanted an of it."

"So your treated like a prince but don't want to be? Poor excuse to leave,"

"Not just treated. In a few weeks I would have been a prince. But I can't stand the princess or even the way they do politics here. The princess only wanted me because I was a good warrior and she thought I looked the part,"

"So you're leaving to escape a marriage? That's just pathetic," Liz said with contempt.

"Isn't that what you did? Left to avoid being wed to the prince?" I countered.

"M position was different, but touché anyway. And I'm just trying to convince you to go back, but I can see that it is not working," She sighed, excepting defeat.

"So, like I asked before, where are we going?"

"Just away. I'm biding my time until I'm ready to take the Queen down," She said, her voice riddled with sadness.

"You think you can take your Queen down alone?"

"No, but I don't plan on being alone, either," She said mischievously.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Liz

I hoped I covered my tracks well enough. I doubted the Nathanial and the Queen could guess either of my powers with evidence pointing to a torch starting the fire. It had been simple enough to pick the lock when Danny left to get the torch, and I was more than happy to let Danny come along. I still wanted to find out how he had seen me. While we walked, I continually switched from visible to invisible and he never noticed.

"What do you mean by your not planning on being alone?" Danny asked. It was of the many things about Danny that I had grown to love. His inability to just accept an answer.

"I have some friends who we might be meeting up with once we get far enough away from here," I said. The reason I didn't want to contact my circle yet was because I didn't want to open up my mind when Nathanial might be close by.

We walked through the woods for a few more hours before breaking camp. I could tell that Danny was thinking about something, but I was afraid to ask what. I made the fire while Danny collected more firewood. It felt good to finally use my power after over a week without it. I felt the warmth of the flames on my back as I set up tents for Danny and I.

This became a routine. Every time we stopped, which was only for dinner and sleep, Danny would fetch firewood while I created the fire and made the tents. Danny would usually do the hunting, but I would occasionally do it. Every time that I heard a noise, I would jump and pull out my sword. Right after dinner, Danny and I would spar. The first few times, I won without even breaking a sweat. But Danny was a fast learner. Soon, the duels lasted for up to half an hour, until both of us collapsed in exhaustion.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" He asked me one night, after a very intense duel.

"Well, when you have been on the run as long as I have, you pick things up," I responded.

That evening, Danny was sitting beside me by the fire. We talked about silly things, like our favorite moves to use in fights. I guess I must have shivered, because the next thing I knew, Danny was asking if I was cold.

"No," I responded, slightly taken aback.

"You look freezing. Here, come sit next to me and we can share a blanket." I moved over to his side, and he put his arm around me. I rested my head on his shoulder. It was the perfect height and I had almost fallen asleep when he asked if I was comfortable.

"Yeah, very," I said, fighting back a yawn.

That's when I heard it. _Thump. Thump. Thump. _Nathanial was close, and it sounded like he had friends. I ran into the woods, looking for Danny. I saw him in the distance and started sprinting toward him. Just as I was about to reach him, he turned around and I tripped over a root. I fell right into his arms, which would have been romantic if I hadn't been panting. His face broke into a smile when he saw me.

"Liz, what's wrong?" He said, his voice suddenly turning serious.

"They found us," I breathed. "We need to move. Now!" I started pulling him towards a clearing.

"I really don't think that going into an open space is the best idea," he said

"Sadly, it's the only one I have," I sighed. I had been hoping to keep this secret for a little bit longer. Once we were in the clearing, I grabbed Danny in my arms, holding him tight. "Keep your eyes closed!" I yelled. Then I jumped.

It felt amazing to be in the air again. My wings stretched out behind me, appearing for the first time in what felt like years. I hugged Danny close to my chest, willing him to keep his eyes closed.

"How did they find us?" Danny asked. I was about to tell him that I didn't know when it hit me. I did know how they had found us. I had been so used to covering my own tracks that I had forgotten to cover Danny's.

"Danny, I know this is going to sound weird, but I need you to close your mind. They are tracking us through it. He just stared at me like I was crazy. "Danny, listen to me! Think of a song or poem or just any thought. Think about it and nothing else. Then they won't be able to track us," I told him quickly.

He looked at me quizzically. "It's worth a shot, I guess," He said, sounding very doubtful. I could see his face contort with concentration. Then, when I thought he was ready, I dived down into the trees. I swerved and turned around. There was no way Nathaniel would find me now. I landed a few hundred miles away, after only half an hour of flying. "You can open your eyes now," I told Danny, after I let my wings disappear.

"Where are we?" He asked.

"About three hundred miles away from your home," I responded, nonchalantly.

"What? How? We've only been traveling for half an hour!" He exclaimed.

"I'll explain once I check to make sure we weren't followed," I said.

After that, I shut my eyes and opened my mind for the first time in since I had bonded with the rest of my circle. I had planned to open it, check my surroundings, and shut it before Nathanial noticed my presence.

But things don't always go as planned.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Danny

Liz let out the loudest scream I had every heard. And this is coming from a guy who had killed hundreds of people in battle. I knew pain. But I had never felt anything compared to the pain Liz was in.

"Liz!" I yelled, grabbing for her hand. I thought that the sound of her scream was the most painful thing in the world. That was until she stopped moving all together. "Wake up!" I yelled, squeezing her hand.

"She won't wake up. Not until I leave her mind" said a voice behind me. "I finally infiltrated her mind, but she shut her body down before I could do any damage."

Nathanial stepped out of the shadows, saying "So why don't you just give her to me, and you can leave here unharmed."

"No!" I gasped. "I won't leave her!" I drew my sword, taking my fighting stance. "I won't leave her!" I screamed it this time, hoping to scare him off.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you," Nathanial said, drawing his sword as well. We started circling each other, Nathanial's face set in a bored expression. He swung to my left, and I blocked it just before he hit my side. I struck back, swinging my sword towards his head. He blocked me easily with a lazy flick of his wrist. I faked left, then swung right before he had a chance to recover from his block. I hit his side, sending him sprawling to the ground.

He just looked at me, surprise etched into his face. "You filthy human! How dare you strike me!" He yelled at me. He came at me with a new fury, each strike faster and harder than the last. I blocked, parried, and dodged, losing ground with each strike. With a last blow, Nathanial knocked me to the ground. I felt my head smack against the ground and started seeing double vision.

"And now, human, you die!" Nathanial wheezed. I saw him lift his sword, and closed my eyes, waiting for the end to come.

It never did.

"Don't talk so loudly, you'll wake him!" I heard a voice say. I had no idea where I was, until I remembered the events from before I had passed out. I sat straight up and searched for my sword. I found it next to the tree I was leaning against and dropped into a fighting stance. I saw a campfire surrounded by three teenagers who were all staring at me.

"Whoa, not so fast there. You hit your head pretty hard when you fell, and you really should be resting" the girl I had heard before said.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Chloe," she replied. She was average height with long blonde hair pulled back into a loose bun. "And this is Jet and Emma" She pointed to the only other boy, who was tall with pitch black hair, and the other girl, who was shorter than Chloe and had pin-straight brown hair that she had pulled back in a ponytail.

"What are you doing here?" I asked

"We were about to ask you the same thing," Jet responded. "What were you doing in the woods fighting Nathanial? And do you have any idea what happened to Liz? When we found her, she was out cold and hasn't shown any signs of waking up." He added with a worried tone.

"I was fighting Nathanial because he wanted to take Liz and I wouldn't let him. He said that he got into Liz's mind and that she is trying to fight him off." I replied, not really understanding how he had got into her mind in the first place.

"Jet, you could help her fight him off, couldn't you?" Emma asked, her voice filled with fear.

"Maybe," Jet replied. "Give me some room. This could take a while"

I walked back to sleeping roll I had woken up on. Now that the shock was wearing off, I could feel the pain in my head were I had fallen on it. I lied down and shut my eyes, with the full intent of staying awake, but the second my head hit the sleeping roll, I was out cold.

I woke up to the sound of the teenagers talking again. This time, it was Jet saying how he had figured out how to help Liz. I sat up so that I could better hear him, but he stopped talking the second he saw me.

"How long was I out?" I asked, trying to break the tension my presence had caused.

"A few hours" Emma replied. "While you were out, I healed your head, so it shouldn't bother you to much now."

"How did you do that? " I felt my head for some form of bandage, but found nothing.

"It's a gift of mine," Emma replied nonchalantly. Jet was staring daggers at her. I was about to press her for more details when Jet said "What were you doing with Liz, anyway? Last we heard from her, she was traveling alone."

"I helped her break out of prison, so she let me tag along. I had been traveling with her for all of three hours before were attacked by Nathanial."

"What? Prison?" Jet screamed. "How did she get herself into that situation?'

"I, uh, kind of arrested her." I replied in a small voice. Before Jet had time to interrupt me, I said "In my defense, I thought she was an actual criminal, and I think I made up for it by helping her escape."

"How did you escape? What did you leave behind?" Jet asked accusingly.

"We just walked out and she threw a torch into her cell as we were leaving. She said it was to cover her trail, but I didn't understand what she meant."

Just then, I heard a groan from a pile of blankets I hadn't noticed before. Liz slowly lifted her, saw me and smiled.

Please rate and review! I really want to know if anyone even reads this story. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Liz

I woke to the sound of Danny's voice. I tried to lift my head, but that caused pain to coarse through my entire body. I felt a groan escape my lips; followed quickly by a second one because of the pain it caused me. When I finally opened my eyes, I saw Danny and smiled.

"How are you?" He asked. I saw concern on his face, but my throat was parched. I scanned the ground for a water skin and found one a few feet to my left. I picked it up, drained it, and answered; "Now I feel fine. My head is a little groggy, but I'll survive."

His face broke into a smile. That was when I noticed that we weren't alone. I saw Emma sitting near Danny, Jet leaning against a tree not far off, and Chloe sat next to him, trying to calm him down. Jet had a look of anger on his face, and, based on his glare, it was directed at me.

"You were in prison?" Jet screamed at me. "Why didn't you contact us the second you were in danger? We would have helped you out!"

"Well, she was in prison, so that would limit her ability to contact anyone," Danny said, completely oblivious to the fact that I was mentally connected to the three teens surrounding him.

Before Jet could respond, I said, "I know I should have contacted you, but I thought that I could get myself out of the situation alone. And I did, until I attempted to contact you." My voice started off calm, but towards the end I was almost screaming at him.

Jet stared at me with shock etched on his face. He opened his mouth as if to respond, but decided against it, closing his mouth with a snap. He got off of the tree and walked into the woods, muttering something about firewood. I realized it was getting dark, and got up to help Jet collect firewood.

"Oh, co you don't," Emma said. "You sit back down and rest, Chloe will help Jet." Chloe stood up quickly and ran after Jet, not wanting to lose him in the woods. "So what have you done since we were separated?" Emma asked.

"The usual. I travelled around, went sight seeing, gathered information on Lydia…"

Who's Lydia?" Danny cut in before I could finish. I had forgotten that he didn't know anything.

"Lydia is the Queen of our people…"

"Unrightfully the Queen." I interrupted. I was not going to let Lydia have a title she didn't deserve. She was also an awful Queen, leading our nation to bankruptcy so she could have a more lavish palace.

"I was about to add that," Emma said, looking at me with a glare that said shut up. I just stared back, refusing to lose this battle.

Danny interrupted our silent battle by asking, "How is she the un-rightful Queen? "

"She murdered the original King and Queen so that she could gain power, but told the public that no one knew what caused the fire."

"So how do you know that she actually did it?"

"I lived with her for eight years, and I overheard her talking to Nathanial about it." I kept my face straight so I wouldn't show the pain I still felt from that day.

"So that's why you ran away? Because you thought the Queen was a murderer?"

"After I overheard them, I confronted Lydia about it. She confessed tried to convince me it was the right thing to do. I pretended that I agreed with her, and that night I ran away. I trained and learned the flaws of the kingdom, devising a plan to overthrow Lydia and put a worthy person in charge."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Who would you put in charge? Not many people can handle leadership well."

"I would find someone who could. Besides, anyone is better than a murderer." I replied, venom in my voice. There was no way anyone would talk me out of this.

"Good luck with that," Danny snorted, looking away. That's when I lost my temper. A fire grew next to me before I realized what I was doing. I calmed myself down and put out the fire before Danny could notice what I had done.

"So, what do you do for fun around here?" Danny asked, turning back to face me.

"We train," I replied, a grin spreading across my face.

**To my one commenter, thank you. You have convinced me to continue writing this story. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. If you could also spread word of my story, I would love reviews and people who just read my story!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Danny**

"With what?" I asked. I hadn't seen any training swords, and fighting with real ones was dangerous at the best of times.

"With these," Said Liz, tossing me a training sword. It was like it had just appeared out of thin air. I couldn't see where she had grabbed it from, but I decided to just let it go. "You'll spar with Emma first, because she is the worst with a sword.

"And that makes it fair how?" I asked. There was no way that Emma could beat me. She was the shortest one and she looked like she could be snapped in half if you pushed her to hard.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Emma said, getting into a fighting stance. I held my sword with two hands. I preferred one, but with out a shield that was just stupid. I started circling Emma, waiting for her to strike out at me. After a few seconds of nothing happening, a swung a light blow at her head. She dodged easily and knocked my sword out of my hand. After that, she twirled to my back and kicked in my knee. She was so fast and light on her feet, I could have sworn she flew. After a fell down, she held her sword to my throat. "I win," she said, a grin growing on her face.

I grunted and pushed myself up. "Rematch," I growled. She just smiled, tossing my sword back to me. This time, I made a move almost instantly. I swung for her legs, but she easily jumped over my sword. She stayed in the air longer than I would have expected, and managed to land behind me. She kicked my knee out again, and grabbed my hair to stop me from face planting. She held her sword to my throat again.

"I win again!" She said, her voice full of glee. "I hardly ever win unless I have my bow!" If she was the worst swordsman in this group, I was dreading fighting any of the others. She dropped me, and I fell to the dirt. I pushed myself back up, feeling the pain from the past two fights. I forced myself into I fighting stance, but decided to stay on the defensive this time.

Emma just stood there, facing me with a smile on her face. "Your move," I said. She shrugged, and then swung for my legs. I blocked it easily. She pulled back and came in for a stab. I spun out of the way, using my momentum to take a swing at her side. Her sword moved so fast that it blurred. I then attacked with a quick flurry of blows, all of which she blocked with apparent ease.

"Do you give up yet?" She asked, jokingly. _I NEED to beat her._ That thought had been swimming around my head for a while, but was finally making a prominent appearance. With that thought, I took a swing for her legs. I saw my sword move in slow motion, but I knew that it was moving faster than I had ever swung a sword. Shock spread across Emma's face, as her sword moved to block my attack. When our swords collided, they shattered. Splinters covered my hands as I dropped the training sword.

Emma stared at what was left of her training sword for what felt like ages. After that, she just locked eyes with Liz. Liz's face betrayed nothing. She just stood up, grabbed Emma's hand, and pulled her into the woods. I stood there, blood dripping down my hands, wondering what had happened.

After what felt like hours, Liz and Emma returned, Jet and Chloe not far behind them. "How did you do it?" Jet asks accusingly. I stare back at him blankly, not understanding what he asked. "How did you move that quickly and break the swords?" Jet almost screams it at me.

"I have no idea, I was just trying to beat Emma," I start to stammer out.

"Who are you?" Jet yells at me again. This makes me lose my temper. I have told them everything about me and have gotten no responses back, and yet they still ask me who I am.

"Who am I? The better question is who are you? Emma moved even faster than I did to block my attack, and she was practically flying around me, and you aren't yelling at her!" The four teens share a look. A look of defeat. Like they were about to tell me something that they hadn't wanted to. Like I had stumbled onto the truth.

"We aren't normal," Liz started. "At least, not in the way that you think is normal. In fact, we aren't even human. We are from the kingdom of Perisia, a kingdom full of people like us. People who are born to be one with the elements. That's why you thought that Emma was flying around you. She controls air. That's why I threw a torch into my cell. I control fire, and I wanted Nathanial to know that I broke myself out. Chloe can control water, and Jet can control earth. Also, we can make ourselves invisible to humans." She finished on an awkward note, scanning my face for a hint of what I was thinking.

"So that's why you were surprised when I caught you. You thought that you were invisible." I didn't know if I believed them, but it was the only explanation that they were going to offer.

Jet chose this moment to add, "So that answers the question of who we are, but it fails to answer the first one we asked. Who. Are. You?"

**I want to say thank you to any and all people who read this, and if you would please review, that would be really great. I woud like to give a special shout out to **_**Lust'Love'Kiss'Touch **_**for giving me some wonderful feedback. If anyone here hasn't already, you should check out her stories. Thank you for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Liz**

We all stared at Danny, wondering how he would respond to our news. He looked like he didn't quite believe us, but he accepted our answer anyway. "I'm Daniel Argoson. I was betrothed to a princess, and I am a war hero. I am human."

"No human can move like you did," Chloe said, a hint of wonder in her voice. "What lead up to your sudden burst of speed and strength? What could have triggered it?"

""I don't know, I was just thinking about how I had to beat Emma, and how I would do anything to do so." Danny replied.

"Well, let's see if it was just an outburst, or if you unlocked them for good," I said, tossing Danny another training sword. "Hit me with your best shot," I said, taking a defensive stance. He just held the sword loosely, afraid to see what he could do. "Come on, I don't have all day, you know," I taunted.

He sighed, and took a fighting stance. He took a few light swings at my sword. I just sighed, before saying, "Fine, if you don't want the offensive, I'll take it." I started putting force into my blows. Each one was faster and more powerful than the last one. Danny didn't seem to notice that he was speeding up to match my speed. I finally used my inhumane strength and speed, and he just blocked, like he was fighting a normal person, not a Perisian. After a few more blows, I backed away, lowering my sword.

"I think it's safe to say that his powers were unlocked, and not just an outburst." I said, monitoring Danny's breathing. It was normal. "So do you still believe that you are just a human?" I said.

Danny just stared at his sword in disbelief. "So that's how I fought off Nathanial. I knew that he seemed really strong for a guy his size!" I wanted to tell him why Nathaniel had seemed stronger, well, stronger than Emma, Jet, Chloe, and I. I wanted to, but I didn't. He had been told enough today. We would tell him the rest later, after everything had time to sink in.

"So, now we just need to find your power," Jet said bluntly. Danny just stared back at him.

"How?"

"Well, um…I actually have no idea," Jet admitted. He looked to Chloe for help, but she just shrugged.

"For now, we'll just train you how to use your strength and speed," I said. "I'll teach you how to handle a sword while using your strength and speed, and Jet can help you with accessing them on command."

"So which first?" Danny asked me. I could tell that he didn't want to spend too much time with Jet, but they needed to learn how to get along.

"Work with Jet first," I said, while walking into the woods. "There are some things that I need to do." I looked back and saw him staring at me. After we locked eyes, he turned his head away and faced Jet. I started walking towards the woods again, when Emma and Chloe ran to catch up with me.

"So, what are we going to do?" Chloe asks me.

"Well, I was going to take a fly, and then maybe spar a little?"

"I'm game," Emma responds.

"Me, too."

We walked a little ways into the woods, until we found a nice clearing that wasn't visible from our campsite. We all let our wings manifest, having to still keep them hidden from Danny. Mine were made of flames, and were bright red, with hints of purple, blue, and green throughout. Chloe's were almost transparent because they were made of water. You could only really see them if the sun was shining on them in the right way. Emma's looked like actual angel wings. Since wings can't be made of air, she got the next best thing. They were made of white feathers.

As I pushed off of the ground, I could feel the freedom of flying again. While I did enjoy Danny's company, it was a pain that he didn't know about this. I decided that I would tell him when he found out what his power was. Or when he accidently created them. Whichever came first.

Emma, Chloe and I flew around for about an hour. We didn't go anywhere, just in a giant circle. We didn't talk so it gave me some time to think about when Nathanial had invaded my mind. My friends just thought that I was paranoid that Nathanial would do it, but I knew better. Nathanial was a constant drain on my mind, and keeping him out made doing even simple things difficult.

It was similar to what Jet shared with Chloe. A constant companion who was always in your head unless you closed it. So my mind had to stay closed. I wanted to tell the others why it was taking us forever to find the last two people of our circle. It was because we were actually only looking for one. But I knew that I couldn't. Just like I knew I couldn't tell them who I actually was. It was for their own good.

We landed in the same clearing that we took off from. Once we landed, Chloe went to a nearby tree stump and sat down, letting Emma and I take the first spar. Emma sent a giant blast of wind towards me, but I jumped over it, sending a ball of fire in retaliation. She put it out before it hit her, then created a tornado and sent it in my direction. I sidestepped it, and then went in for a tackle. I knocked her to the ground, then put one hand on her shoulder, pinning her down, and my other hand in a fist just above her throat.

"Pinned ya," I said, a smile forming on my face as I helped her up. She just laughed, and went over to the stump, sending Chloe over. Chloe attacked me head on, before I rally recovered from my spare with Emma. She stole water from some of the surrounding trees and created a tidal wave. She sent it at me, and it collapsed on top of me before I had time to dodge it. I sprung back up before Chloe could pin me. I kicked her legs out from under her, causing her to fall. I caught my hand on fire and aimed it at her throat while stepping lightly on her chest. "Pinned you, too," I laughed again.

We walked back to our campsite, all in a better mood after the flight and spares.

We were the only ones.

**So, I want to thank anyone and everyone who reads this story! Please review, even if you hate it. Let me know what you think! Special shout out to **_**frigonfic**_**, my latest reviewer! Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Danny

I can't believe that she left me. I mean, I don't care that she _left_ me. I care that she left me with _him_. Of all the people I had met since I met her, I probably liked Jet the least. He always seemed angry with me, like I had done something wrong. Which I hadn't.

I stared at her, my face showing just how disappointed I was. When she saw me, I turned away, not wanting to meet her eye. After she was gone, Jet picked up Liz's training sword. I realized that I had dropped mine, and bent over to pick it up. That's when Jet attacked me.

"Hey!" I screamed as I fell to the ground. I caught myself before I could fall on my face, and then felt Jet hit my back, causing me to face plant.

"Never take your eyes off of the opponent, especially when they can move faster than you," Jet lectured me. I pushed myself up and grabbed my sword, without taking my eyes off of him. The next hour was spent sparring. I found that I could access my strength when I wasn't really thinking about it, and just concentrating on fighting. Jet said that that was good, but I thought that it didn't make any sense.

After sparring, we tried meditating. That just made Jet angry with me. I couldn't access my powers through meditation. While Jet was yelling at me for not concentrating hard enough, the girls returned.

"Finally," I muttered under my breath. I tried to smile at Liz, but Jet continued to yell at me for lack of discipline concentration. At that, I lost my temper and took a swing for his head. He blocked it easily, and kneed me in the gut. I dry-heaved for a few seconds, but got out of the way before he could hit me again. I sent a kick to his knees, but he jumped over it. I felt my attacks speed up as I sent a series of jabs to his chest. He blocked them all, but I started noticing that his blocks were slowing down. The girls were just staring at us, looks of horror on their faces.

"Nice jab," Jet said after I finally landed a blow. "Focus on the speed and power you just used. Now try and calm yourself down, but keep that power in mind." After a few moments, I was able to slow down my breathing and lose my anger towards Jet. Then I focused on the speed I had used when fighting, then started running. I thought I was running at an easy pace, but then I noticed that my surroundings were starting to blur.

When I stopped running, I noticed that Jet and Liz were clapping for me. Not in the ecstatic kind of way, but in a nice slow way. "Well, my job is done," Jet said, smiling.

"My turn," Liz responded, with a mischievous grin on her face. That's when I knew that the next few days were going to be hell.

"Ahhhh!" I gasped as I fell on my face. Again. This was the third time in the past minute that Liz had beaten me. Even when I did manage to access my strength and speed, Liz was just better at handling a sword.

"You need to just concentrate on fighting, not on your powers. They are only helpful if they don't distract you," Liz lectured me. Again. I felt like I got this lecture several times a day. Liz helped me back up, then we both dropped into defensive positions. I was so fed up with losing that I decided to just fight. Even with extra strength, I doubted I could beat Liz.

I let her take a swing for my legs, jumped over it, then used an overhead swing to try and hit her shoulder. She blocked it with apparent ease, but I saw worry cross her face for a fraction of a second. I used this to my advantage. I sped up my attacks, adding more and more power to each strike. I finally got around her sword, and knocked it out of her hand with a particularly powerful blow. Liz just stared at her now empty hands while I put my wooden sword on her throat.

"I. Win." I managed to wheeze out. I hadn't realized how hard I was trying until I was done. My lungs felt like they were about to explode, but I didn't care. I had won!

"How did you do that? That was the fastest move I have every seen! I'm unusually fast for a Perisian, and you just moved faster!" This just confused me. I thought that she would be happy that I had accessed my power, but she just looked worried.

"I don't know how I did it or why its bad, but I am really happy that I finally used my power on command!" I just wanted her to celebrate, and maybe take a break. I was tired, and just wanted to enjoy my accomplishment.

"It's not bad, just troubling," She continued to look puzzled for a few more seconds, then shook her head and smiled. "Great job, though. That was some great sword handling."

"Thank you. And was it really that hard to congratulate me?"

She laughed for a few seconds, her face lighting up in a smile. "Yes, yes it was. But it was worth it."

"So, when do I get to start searching for my other power?"

"What other power?" Her face lost its smile, and her voice had a nervous edge to it.

"The one that let's me control something, like everyone else has. How did you forget?"

"Oh! That power! It's up to you to find it. We really can't help you with that," Liz replied. She sounded relieved, but I had no idea why. I was about to ask when Emma came up and started talking to Liz in a hushed voice. I tried to listen in, but couldn't make out anything that they said. I could tell that it was important because their voices had urgent tones in them.

"Jet accidently touched Nathanial's mind. He knows we are close. We need to leave. Now." After a few seconds, I realized that she had been talking to me.

"Oh! Um, I'll go grab my stuff, then," I replied, awkwardly. I walked toward my sleeping roll, packed it, and grabbed my sword and shield. I walked back to Liz and Emma, about to tell them that I was ready to go, when I overheard a little bit of another hushed conversation.

"We can't leave him! Nathanial would find him within hours! He would be as good as dead!" Liz argued with Emma.

"And we will be, too, if we take him along." And I thought that Emma had liked me, at least a little bit. I guess I was wrong.

"Not if we tell him. I could carry him, or we could just show him how…"

"What if he isn't one of us, and is just some new form of human? We can't release Perisian secrets to the world just because we want to help."

"Tell me what?" I heard myself ask.

"Shit," Emma said.

"You weren't supposed to hear that," Liz translated. She looked disappointed, but happy at the same time.

"Tell me what?" I asked again

**Please review! Or PM me with any questions! Anthing, just let me know what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Liz

Well, I knew this moment would come. I was relieved that I could finally tell him, but terrified at the same time. I took a quick glance at Emma, who was staring daggers at me. I nodded, letting her know that I was going to tell him. Even if I didn't let her in my mind, she could still read my expressions rather well. She gave a sigh of defeat, then shrugged and walked away.

"Tell. Me. What?" He was really persistent; I'd give him that.

"We haven't been completely honest with you, Danny. We only told you what you needed to know, for fear that it would be too much to take in…"

"Just tell me already!" Well, I guess stalling just wasn't working for him. I sighed, and then gave in.

"I wasn't completely honest about our powers. We can do more than just control the elements. We all have the ability to fly, which is how we planned on escaping," I said, quickly. I kept my eyes on his face, trying to not show my fear. His eyes betrayed nothing.

"That's how we escaped Nathanial the first time, isn't it?" Wow, he did catch on fast.

"Yeah, and that's how we plan on escaping him again, so let's get going." He just stood there, staring at me.

"That's not everything, is it? You're still keeping stuff from me. Why? Don't you trust me?" He was almost pleading with me by the end.

"I'll tell you the rest after we get moving. I promise." I wanted to put this off for as long as possible.

"No. You will tell me now." His voice was calm, but demanding. I knew that he meant business.

"All Perisians have a side power. Something that aids them and their circle. Which brings me to the other thing that I didn't tell you. Perisians have things called circles, where their mind is bonded to five other Perisians. Jet, Chloe, Emma, and I are the first four of our six person circle. Now, I will explain in better detail after we get moving. Now lets GO!" I could see Emma, Jet, and Chloe flying away in the distance.

I quickly grabbed Danny in a bear hug and jumped up, manifesting my wings as I did. Danny hung on for dear life as I flew towards my friends. I looked behind me, and I thought that I saw Nathanial. But as soon as I saw it, it was gone. I held Danny close, afraid that if he fell, I wouldn't be able to catch him if he fell. He kept his eyes shut, muttering to himself about not looking down. I almost smiled at the thought that he was afraid of heights. I had spent most of my life in the sky, and the thought amused me.

We flew for a few hours, changing direction every 45 minutes or so. We landed in a large clearing when it was almost sundown. Danny walked around for a bit, unsteady on his feet. He looked like he was about to hurl, and I was glad that he didn't. After he had walked around for a bit, he sat down on a log and called me over.

"You said you would explain. So explain," He demanded. I just stared at the ground for a few moments, searching for the words to use.

"Like I said earlier, all Perisians have the ability to fly, can control an element to some degree, can enter other minds, and have a side power. I can create objects. That's how we get all of our training swords. I create them. Emma has the ability to heal. Chloe can move objects with her mind, and Jet has an enhanced mind, meaning he can do more when he breaks in, can break in with less effort, and can shield many minds at once."

Danny just stared at me. After a few minutes, he said, "I should have guessed it. That's how Jet helped you out of your comatose state, and how Emma healed my head." He put his head in his hands. "How could I have been so blind?" He stayed in that position for a few seconds, and then suddenly jumped up. "That means I have a power, too. Right?"

"We're not really sure, because we don't know what you are. That's why Emma didn't want to tell you any of this. She didn't want to betray the secrets of our kind." He stared at me, dumbfounded.

"What else _could_ I be? No human can do what I've done, and there is no other type of humanoid creature, is there?" His voice sounded scared. Like he didn't want to know.

"No, not that we know of." His features visibly relaxed. "But we still don't know what you are. We just have to keep searching, hoping that we can find your power."

"How can I if no one knows how?"

"Try getting angry an losing control. That's how I found mine!" Jet had joined our conversation, but gone unnoticed until just then.

"I can't get angry on command! It doesn't work like that!" Danny was shocked that Jet would even suggest such a thing.

"Fine then, plan B." Jet stood up and kicked Danny in the gut. Danny collapsed onto all fours, but pushed himself back up before Jet could kick him again. I could tell that he didn't want to fight Jet, as he was only using defensive moves. Every now and then, Jet would land a hit, and Danny would groan with pain. I knew Jet. He would not stop until his goal was reached. Or Danny collapsed.

Danny was starting to get tired and frustrated. His blocks were becoming increasingly sloppier, and Jet was landing more and more blows. Finally, he sent a kick at Jet, trying to ward him off. Only this time, his leg had a blue light coursing around it. When his foot touched Jet, he convulsed. He started shrieking in pain as his body shook madly. He collapsed on the ground, and so did Danny. I ran to try and help Jet, yelling for Emma to come quickly.

**Please review! Please! And, if you want to, please submit an OC! Thank You **


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Danny

I dreamed I was flying. Not racing, just gliding. Floating over the Earth, watching everything from a distance. I saw Emma kneeling over Jet, a worried look on her face. Her hands had a blue glow around them, and she was moving them methodically over his body. Then I noticed my body. Liz was leaning over me, shaking me, trying to get a response. Her face was tear stained, her eyes glistening in the sun. Wait. The _sun? _Last I remembered, it had been sunset.

I glided down to my body, wondering if I was still alive. I touched my chest, searching for a heartbeat, but my hand just fell through. I was terrified that id hadn't made it, when an idea came to me. I positioned myself so that I was in my body, and then I felt myself slip into the blackness, forgetting everything that had happened. A gasp escaped my lips, and knew that I was back.

"Danny!" Liz cried. Fresh tears came pouring from her eyes as she hugged me. "I didn't know if you would make it or not! I'm so glad you're okay…" She finished awkwardly.

"What happened? The last thing I remember, I kicked Jet, saw a surge of light, then passed out."

"You found your power. But you went over your limit. You pushed yourself too far, so your body failed on you. You're really lucky that you came back again." Her voice betrayed the fear that she had felt. The fear that I wouldn't make it out of this.

"Well, I did," I said, trying to reassure her. "So, what _is_ my power, because I didn't get a good look at it and passed out before anyone told me."

"We are pretty sure it's electricity. You shocked Jet pretty badly. Emma's been working on him all night, and all that she has done is stabilize him…" Her voice drifted off toward the end, the worry showing on her face and creeping into her voice. Her gaze moved to where Jet was lying on his back, Emma kneeling over him. _I did this?_ I thought. _How could I have done something like this? I've never hurt someone this badly in cold blood._ I wanted to help Jet, but I knew that there was nothing I could do to help. Emma was a healer. She would have to deal with it. But I couldn't help but feel responsible for what I had done to Jet.

Chloe lay next to Jet, clutching his hand and stroking his hair. Her eyes were red, her face tearstained. Then she looked up, and noticed that I was awake. "_You!_" She shrieked. She let go of Jet's hand and pounced on me, knocking the wind out of me. "You did this to him!" She yelled, clawing at me, scratching every surface of my body she could reach. I felt her tear through the shirt I was wearing, felt blood drip down arm, but I did not cry out. I knew that I deserved this. I had put Jet in this state, even if by accident. Even if he was provoking me, trying to get me to hurt him. This was still my fault.

"Chloe, get off of him!" I heard Liz cry, but only faintly. I could feel myself slipping back into the blackness and didn't fight it. In fact, I would welcome a chance to escape this for a few hours. Escape the guilt that I might have killed Jet. When the blackness consumed me, I went happily, with a smile on my face.

I felt myself return to consciousness and groaned. All of the memories from before Chloe had attacked me, the guilt that I felt over Jet's condition, came back to me. I didn't want to face it, but I knew that I had to. I opened my eyes, and saw Liz sitting next to me. She looked tired, black circles forming under her eyes.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Eighteen hours the first time, six just now. You better be careful, I don't think passing out this much is good for you." She sounded exhausted, like she hadn't slept since I had passed out the first time.

"How… how's Jet?" I asked. I was scared, but I still had to know if he had made it. If he didn't make it, I don't know how I would go one with my life.

"He woke up a few hours ago, but went back under after a few minutes. Emma's still worried for him, but she thinks that there is a big chance that he will live without any side effects," Liz replied. She tried to put on a smile, but it looked fake, and I knew that she was still worried for Jet. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he would live, at least for a little bit longer. I sat up slowly, feeling a pain in my head the second I moved.

"Oh, no you don't," Liz scolded, pushing me back down. It was then that I realized that I had been moved to my bedroll. "You are going to rest until Emma can have a look at you. Chloe really did some damage before I could pull her off of you."

I looked at my body and noticed scars and bruises that hadn't been there before. Then I felt the pain. It was excruciating, but I wouldn't cry out. I deserved these scars and this pain. My eyes suddenly felt heavy, like I hadn't slept in days, when that was actually the only thing I had done. I tried to fight off sleep, but it over powered me, and I faded into the blackness once more.

**I know that this is a short chapter, but please review! And submit an OC. I still don't have one, and I would really like to introduce him soon and I want my readers to make him. I can. But I think it would be more interesting if you guys did. Review! 6 days of school left! (That is really unrelated, but it makes me so happy!) But really it is 13 days, but only six in my mind!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Liz

They were alive. Both of them. I was filled with joy at the thought. I wouldn't have to lose anyone. Not like I lost my parents. I shook my head, clearing the thought from it. Just focus on the fact that they are alive, I told myself. I hadn't slept since day that Jet had accidently touched Nathanial's mind, and we had fled. That was almost two days without sleep. I was exhausted, but couldn't relax. I had been on edge with worry since Danny and Jet had fought.

I was still sitting by Danny's side. He had been asleep for about an hour, and I might have dozed. Not slept. Dozed. I decided to see how Jet was doing, so I stood up and walked over to where Chloe and Emma were watching over him. "How's he doing?" I asked. Emma looked up, her face drooping with exhaustion.

""He's doing better. He should be fine in a few days, but we won't be able to travel for at least a week," She replied. She looked down at Jet, a worried expression on her face. "I'm afraid that I missed something that wasn't directly damaged that will hurt him later."

"You did the best you could," I reassured her. "Why don't you sleep now, I'll take first watch. Chloe, you, too. I'll wake you in a few hours." I directed the last part to Chloe, knowing that Emma needed the most sleep. Emma and Chloe nodded, just laying down where they stood. They shut their eyes, and in a few minutes, they were both snoring. After a few more minutes, I decided to create a fire. I gathered a few sticks from nearby trees and created one within seconds. I sat by the fire for hours, staring into the flame. It was almost dawn when I felt someone sit down next to me. I almost created my sword and attacked, but then I realized that it was Danny.

"How long have you been awake?" He asked. "You look terrible." I just glared at him, not wanting to admit that I was exhausted. After a few minutes of a rather awkward silence, Danny said, "Since we are the only ones awake, and no one will yell at you for doing it, would you mind telling me a little bit more about Perisians?" He looked hopeful, and I knew that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

I sighed. "Why not? What do you want to know?" His face lit up, his smile taking up his entire face.

"I want to know more about your powers. Like if they're hereditary or random, and stuff like that."

"They are kind of hereditary," I explained. "We inherit the ability to have powers, but the powers are random. You could have the complete opposite power of what your parents have, and it would be completely normal. No one knows what their child will be able to do until they start learning how to control their powers."

"So my parents could be anyone?" He looked sad, disappointed. I just stared at him, shocked.

"That's why you ask all of these questions? To figure out whom your parents are? Why don't you just ask them?" His face fell even further, if that was possible.

"My parents are dead. That's why I became a soldier. When I was eight, our village was raided, and my parents didn't make it out in time." His voice choked as he finished the sentence. I wanted to ask more, but he was in no state to answer questions on that topic.

"Well, more about powers, then," I said, trying to change the subject. "We can fly, control elements, have a side power, can make ourselves invisible to humans, and can change our appearances to a certain extent."

"That last ones new," Danny said, successfully distracted from the past conversation. "You've never told me that before."

"Its nothing major, just changing your hair color slightly, slight change in height, slight change in physique. It makes it easier for us to blend in with humans. Actually, getting rid of our wings is a part of that." I added as a side note.

"So, why have my wings never appeared? If I am a Perisian, then shouldn't they just be there?" He asked, thoroughly confused.

"Well, yeah," I responded. I had no idea what to say. "We are going to figure out why," I added when I saw a look of complete sadness on his face.

"I always knew that I was different," Danny said after a few moments. He sounded distant, like he was viewing a memory. "I could do things that the other kids couldn't. On the battlefield, no one could touch me. I was practically invincible. But it wasn't because I was good. I was just more powerful than them. Not a better swordsman." His face fell with each word he said.

"You are. An amazing swordsman." I added when he shot me a quizzical look. "Not many people can hold their ground against me or Nathanial. And you did. So you have to be pretty good." I rambled on. I had no idea why I was so nervous about complimenting him, but I was.

He snorted. "Thanks," He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. That's when Emma woke up, yawning loudly. For some reason, I found myself blushing, as if I was caught doing something embarrassing. Which I wasn't. Emma walked over and sat between Danny and I.

"We are running low on provisions," She stated. She said it so matter-of-factly that she could have been talking about the weather. "I'm going hunting after everyone wakes up and Jet gets his last healing."

"And you need to tell me this because…?" I let sentence hang, forming a question out of it.

"Just precautionary. You never know what will happen out there. And you should get some sleep. You were supposed to wake Chloe up a few hours ago." She added as a side note.

"Yeah, I guess. Wake me up when you are about to leave, okay?"

"Sure. Just like you said you would wake Chloe up." Now she was just being mean. I smiled at her, then went to my bed roll and closed my eyes, letting the blackness take over me. I was asleep within seconds.

**Please review! Thank you! New character will be introduced next chapter! Thanks to DarkAngelGal for the OC!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Emma

I didn't wake Liz up. She would be furious at me when she woke up, but she needed the rest. Just like I needed to hunt. Hunting calmed me down, let me use all of my skills at once and forced me to be quiet. If you were worked up, then you wouldn't be able to get anything. Also, I was the only hunter in our circle. No one else could use a bow like I could. It probably had something to do with me controlling the air around it, but still, even with out that I was pretty good. I only used my power when hunting if something went wrong, like a gust of wind hit just before my arrow hit its target.

I had been in the woods for a few hours, stalking some deer. I had been in constant contact with Jet and Chloe, but they were distracting, so I had shut my mind. I was following some fresh tracks, and judged that the deer had about five minutes on me. I smiled as I ran in the direction the tracks led. After about ten more minutes, I caught sight of the heard in a clearing up ahead. I got my bow ready and aimed for the nearest one. If I was fast, I could probably hit two of them, but I could live with just one. I was about to release an arrow when the deer I was aiming suddenly lifted its head, stared towards a tree, and then ran into the forest behind him, like it had heard something.

That's when I saw a person come crashing through the trees, into the clearing that the deer had just vacated. It was a teenager, probably my age, maybe a little older. He had blonde air that was almost white, and his skin was even paler. He wore armor, and he was running like hell. He was terrified. Then I saw the people who were chasing him.

There were two of them, and they were big. With big, deadly weapons. They were in full armor, helm and all. They had almost caught the boy. I made a snap decision and let my arrow release aiming for the tip of his helm. I quickly grabbed a second arrow and did the same to the second guy. Both of them fell to the ground, unconscious. The boy stared in my direction, and I noticed that his eyes were really blue. Like _really _blue. It was kind of unsettling.

I stepped out my shadow so he could see me. He just stared at me for a few moments, a look of pure shock on his face. "Thank you," He said.

"Why were they following you?" I asked. I didn't want to sound pushy, but I wanted to make sure I had shot the right people.

"I am a deserter," He said, not a hint of remorse in his voice. He actually sounded kind of proud. I looked at his armor and noticed an all to familiar emblem on it.

"You deserted Queen Lydia's army, didn't you?" I asked, already knowing the answer, but asking anyway.

His face was thunderstruck. "How did you…?" He started to stammer.

"I'm a fugitive from Perisia, too," I said. I'm not sure why, but I felt I could trust him. Like I felt I could trust Chloe, Jet, and Liz. It was kind of unnerving because I didn't even know the guy.

"Yeah, you have wanted posters everywhere. It's rumored that you are traveling with Elizabeth Firesword. Is it true?" His voice grew hopeful, but I didn't know why. It could be a trap, so I decided to keep him guessing.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked, even though that probably gave him the answer he was looking for.

"I've wanted to join her cause for a while now. The Queen is a tyrant that needs to be taken down." His voice rose toward the end, and I knew he really believed what he was saying. But I could also tell that it wasn't the full truth.

"She isn't trying to take Lydia down, just find someone who can replace her." I have know idea shy I was telling him all of this, seeing as I didn't even know the guy's name.

"Oh," The boy said, sounding very disappointed. I wanted to comfort him, and I had no idea why or how.

"By the way, I never caught your name." I said, attempting to change the subject.

"Oh, right. Sorry for forgetting my manners. My name is Zephyr. Zephyr Swift." That's when I heard the groan. The people who had been chasing him were waking up. Either I didn't hit them as hard as I thought, or we had been talking longer than I expected.

"Come on," I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the woods. I ran straight towards my camp for a solid thirty minutes before a thought crossed my mind. My circle did not take well to strangers. Just ask Danny. I stopped running, Zephyr nearly crashing into me.

"What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his knee. He must have fallen when I suddenly stopped.

"Sorry," I said. "I just remembered that the people at my camp don't take kindly to new people. I'm going to call ahead and warn them." _Chloe?_ I asked in my mind.

_ Yeah?_ She responded.

_I kind of rescued a fugitive, and had to bring him along. I'm taking him to camp. Just a heads up._ I cut the connection immediately after that. Then there was no way that she could argue. "We're good now. Let's keep going."

Zephyr groaned, not happy to have to be running again. It took us another half hour to reach the camp. We slowed down and walked in, not wanting to appear as if we were running from something. We walked into camp, and I introduced Zephyr to everyone. Liz was still asleep, so I decided to finally wake her up and introduce her.

"Liz?" I said, shaking her gently.

"What?" She said, still half asleep.

"There's someone that I want you to meet."

I lead her towards Zephyr. The moment that they locked eyes, I saw recognition pass between both of them.

"Zephyr?" She asked, her voice was filled with shock, and another emotion that I couldn't put my finger on, but it sounded a lot like fear.

**Please review! And tell me if you like the new character! If you have any questions, PM me or review!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Liz

This was not happening. I thought I had escaped my old life. But a part of it had followed me here. "Hey guys?" I said. "Can I talk to Zephyr? Alone?" My voice was cold, and gave nothing away. They just stared at me for a moment, then Chloe walked away, muttering something about training. Jet followed after her, copying her excuse. That left Danny and Emma. I stared at Danny, a pleading look in my eyes. That made him crack. He took Emma by the hand and led her away. I felt anger rise in me, and I didn't know why. I decided to ignore it, then turned to face Zephyr.

"I didn't tell her anything," He whispered to me. His voice was defensive, and he had a detached look on his face, like he was lost in memories. "I can't believe it's actually you. It's been years. I would have thought you were dead if not for the fact that we were supposed to capture you. Have you really just been on the run this whole time?" Zephyr said normally. He had so many questions, but I could understand that. It had been close to four years since I had last seen him. And we hadn't exactly left on the best terms.

"Let's talk about this in a more privet location," I said, my eyes drifting over to where Danny and Emma were sitting, pretending to not be paying attention to mine and Zephyr's conversation. I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the woods.

"You can't tell anyone about my past, you know that, right?" I asked when we were safely hidden in the woods. I sat him down on a tree trunk while I sat on the ground in front of him. "No one can know, or they would take my plans the wrong way. They would think it was a ploy for revenge, when it's not. I don't care what happens to Lydia, I just want her to step down."

"Don't worry," Zephyr said. "Your secret's safe with me," He added with a wink. I groaned at him.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you? And when did you join the army? You were just a servant when I left, so you wouldn't have been allowed." I probably shouldn't have pointed it out, and I regretted it the second the words left my mouth. I visibly cringed at the end of my sentence.

"After you left, everything changed," Zephyr's eyes glazed over as he said this, his mind lost in past memories. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but decided against it.

"What happened?" I asked. I was scared to know, but curious at the same time. What could have happened that they would let servants join the army?

"I stood up to Lydia. I spoke my mind. And she punished me. I was sentenced to life as a privet in the army, with no chance of ever rising any higher." Zephyr sounded depressed.

"How long were in the army for?" I asked, my voice extremely quiet.

"I was in it for two years. A few days ago, I snapped again. I couldn't take the way some of the soldiers were treating the civilians. I stood up to my commander. He was going to have me hung, but I escaped and ran. Then I ran into Emma, and she saved me."

"I'm glad you escaped, then. You're to good of a person to be killed for doing what is right. But that's never stopped Lydia before." My voice was dripping with hatred as I said her name. That's why I didn't want people to know who I was. Cause they would know that I hate Lydia and make that my motive, when it wasn't. It just made me fight all the harder.

"We should probably go back now. Your friends will be wondering where we are," Zephyr said, standing up.

"Yeah, let's go." Zephyr helped me up, and then we walked back to the camp. Emma and Danny were sitting exactly were we had left them, and they were smiling at each other. I felt my face flush, and I didn't know why. Chloe and Jet were sparring and laughing at each other, hardly trying in their fight. When they noticed us, they stopped laughing. This got Danny and Emma's attention, and they noticed that we were there.

"So, how was your chat?" Danny asked, his voice rather cold. This surprised me, and I didn't know why he cared.

"It was great!" Zephyr said happily. I wanted to hit him, but he just kept going. "We just had to get caught up on all the gossip in our lives. Well, mainly mine." He smiled the entire time he said this, like he was enjoying making this awkward.

"Wait, how do you know him?" Emma asked. She sounded surprised, and slightly sad, like I had beaten her at her favorite game.

"I used to be a servant for Lydia, at the same time that Liz was living there." Zephyr replied.

Everyone just stared at us, shock apparent on their faces. Zephyr just smiled, like he had done nothing wrong. I really wanted to hit him, but suppressed the urge.

"And you trust him?" Jet asked skeptically after a few moments. I just nodded at him. I didn't trust my voice at the moment. Zephyr could reveal so much that I had kept hidden, but I trusted him to not betray us to Lydia.

"So," Zephyr said, clapping his hands together. "When do we start planning and what are our plans so far?"

"We start now." I said. "And our plans include find a way into the castle so we can find enough evidence to take Lydia down, and then take Lydia down, replacing her with a more suitable ruler."

"Do you have anyone in mind? To rule?" I knew where Zephyr was going, and I really didn't like it.

"No. Any suggestions?" Emma asked.

"Yeah," Zephyr replied, a smug look on his face. "The princess."

**Please review! I love reviews! If you have any questions or comments, review or PM me. Thank you for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Danny

This had been one weird day. First, Emma shows up with a guy that I have never seen, and that she hardly knows. Next, it turns out that _Liz, _of all people, knew him. Then they went and had a little conference about who knows what, and now we are discussing our future possible war plans. Yeah. Weird.

The moment that Zephyr suggested the princess, my mind went immediately to the girl I was supposed to marry. But I knew that that was insane. I scanned everyone's faces, trying to see if they understood this. Emma, Chloe, and Jet all looked surprised and thoughtful. Liz looked furious for a moment, but then her face went blank so quickly that I thought I had imagined the anger.

"That's…not a bad idea," Chloe said, slowly. Jet and Emma started nodding, agreeing with Zephyr's idea.

"We don't even know if the princess is alive, so there's no point in searching for her," Liz said. Everyone's faces fell. Except for Zephyr's.

"Her body was never found, so I think that there is a very big chance that she is still alive," He said, smiling at Liz. She just glared at him. No one but was noticing the silent war between the two, and I didn't want to be the one to point it out.

So instead, I said, "What are you guys talking about? What princess?" Everyone just stared at me, a guilty look on their faces. Except for Zephyr, who looked completely dumbfounded.

"How do you not know what we are talking about? There has only been one Perisian princess in our lifetime." Zephyr exclaimed.

"Danny was raised by humans, so he knows nothing of Perisian culture," Liz explained. Zephyr just stared at me for a few moments, then shook his head and shrugged.

"Her name is Princess Katherine, and she is the rightful heir to the throne," Zephyr said, staring at Liz. He really couldn't take his eyes off of her. Either he was _really _attracted to her, or I was missing a very vital point.

"And we are speculating her death because…?" I still had no idea what was going on and what they were talking about.

"The original King and Queen were murdered while on vacation. Someone caught their house on fire, and they were locked inside. The princess's body was never found, so I think that is safe to assume that she wasn't caught in the fire," Zephyr explained.

This made sense to me. And, based on the looks on their faces, Jet, Chloe, and Emma thought so, too. But not to Liz. "And you think that a six year old girl can survive on her own?" She asked.

"She might have had help," Zephyr countered.

"And who would protect the princess and no let her survival come to life when they realized that Lydia was an awful ruler?" Liz's voice was steadily growing louder, and I knew that she was only a few moments away from exploding in anger.

"They might have their reasons. I'm sure _you_ could think of a few," Zephyr replied. It might have been my imagination, but I thought that put a _little_ too much emphasis on the "you". Like he was trying to make a point that only Liz would understand. He seemed to do that a lot.

"Fine," Liz surrendered. "We can search for the princess. But I doubt that we will find her."

"We will if we follow all of the clues," Zephyr said, cryptically. I kind of thought that he was joking, but his voice was too serious.

"What clues? You said that her body wasn't found and nobody knows where she is!" I pointed out.

"Some one knows…" Again, he was looking at Liz. This made me mad. There were four other people here, and he would only look at one of us.

"And how are we supposed to find this person?" Emma asked. Finally. Another person on my side.

"We spy on Lydia." Zephyr sounded so confident with himself that I almost believed him. Almost.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Jet questioned. The looks on Chloe and Emma's faces said that they were thinking the exact same thing.

"We use the Windows," Liz said. Well, whispered. It was so quiet that I almost missed it.

"We look in through the windows? We would get caught in a heartbeat," I said. Everyone just glared at me.

"No the windows that you're thinking of. _The_ Windows. A set of passageways that were created at the beginning of time that converge in a clearing in the middle of the woods. They are impossible to find," Emma explained.

"Unless you know where they are," Liz whispered. Now it was her turn to get stared at. Apparently, knowing the location of the windows was a big deal.

"How? And why have you never told us?" Jet sounded angry. Shocker. Jet was the type of guy who needed to know everything and hated people who knew more than him.

"When I lived with Lydia, I found the map. I memorized the location of every Window. Even the one in the castle. I didn't tell you guys because even if we got into the castle, we would be caught immediately. We need a way to get in and out with out being noticed," She explained.

"Well, is it in the castle? We can plan from that," Zephyr said.

"It lets out in a cooling duct, about 100 meters from the throne room. Guards patrol the hallway the entire day, so there is no way to get in unless we make ourselves invisible, which none of us can do."

"We can't?" I asked. Hadn't she mentioned that one of our powers was invisibility?

"Only to humans. Sadly, the guards are all Perisian."

"So how are we going to get in?" Emma asked.

"First, we go to the converging point of the Windows. Then, we find your power and hope that it is helpful." She directed the last part to me. She said it in a way that said "No pressure, but we need you to have a super-awesome power." Yeah, because that just makes the pressure go _right_ away.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Liz

I was going to _kill_ Zephyr. He just _had _to suggest everything that I had kept hidden. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't right for me to hide those things from my friends, but it was necessary. Soon, they will be able to connect the dots, and I don't want to be there when the do. Most of them are already pissed at me for keeping the secrets that _have_ come to light.

Anyway, after the meeting, I went to go train Danny. He needed to learn how to control his electrical power, and find his secondary one. I was personally hoping for invisibility, but I would take whatever I got.

"Take your stance," I said. He immediately dropped into his defensive stance. I shook my head at him. "No, when you are using your lightning, you want offensive. I'm not sure how you would defend with your power." Danny immediately shifted his stance, taking on a more appropriate one. "Good," I said. It was decided that I would teach Danny because our powers were the most similar. We both created our attacks, not just controlled them.

"So, how am I supposed to attack without hurting you?" Danny asked. He sounded worried, like he didn't want to attack me.

"You're going to aim at that log," I said, pointing to a fallen tree about ten feet to my left, and about twenty feet in front of him. "Try and feel the lightning coursing through your body. Then direct it to your hands. Imagine a ball of electricity floating just above your hand."

Danny shut his eyes and a look of concentration crept across his face. After about a minute, he opened his eyes, his face falling. "I can't do it," he said.

"Think of when you electrocuted Jet. Imagine those feelings, but control them. Let those thoughts create the electricity, then force it towards your hand," I encouraged. He just nodded, and closed his eyes again. A few seconds later, I saw the first few sparks appear near Danny's hand. I smiled, glad that I was helping him master his power. Not long after the sparks, a full ball of lightning had formed. Danny opened his eyes, looked to his hand, and smiled as well. His smile caused his eyes to gleam and twinkle. Wait, what? Why was I noticing that? I decided to ignore my thoughts.

"Okay, now shoot it at the log," I said. He just stared at me, with a surprised look on his face. "Go on, shoot." He took a deep breath, and then turned his attention to the log. He is about to blast the log when Zephyr pops out behind him. Danny jumps about ten feet in the air. Literally. Even Emma has trouble doing that, and she glides through the air like it is water. That's when the idea hit me.

"Zephyr, what was that for?" Danny yelled at him. Zephyr just smiled, pleased that he had scared Danny. Sometimes I worried about Zephyr, but I was pretty sure his heart was in the right place. Pretty sure.

"Oh, just wondering what you were doing," he said with a shrug, smile still plastered on his face. Danny looked like he was about to blast Zephyr with his lightning, sparks already forming around his fists. I decided to share my idea with Danny so he wouldn't kill Zephyr.

"Danny," I said. "I have an idea on what your second power might be." He immediately turned away from Zephyr and stared at me.

"You do? What?" His voice was so eager that I really wanted to be right just so that I wouldn't let him down.

"Yeah, what? Being and extreme twit?" Zephyr asked. His voice was filled with a tone that I couldn't place. It sounded like sarcasm at first, but I think it was mixed with surprise.

"Not an extreme twit. Just an extreme." Judging by the looks on their faces, they had no idea what I meant. "You know, having all of his abilities enhanced."

"Ooohhh," they both said. At the _exact_ same time. It was kind of creepy, but hilarious at the same time. I wanted to laugh, but settled on smiling at myself.

"What makes you think that?" Danny asked.

"The way you kept out of your true form for your entire life. And just now, you jumped about ten feet in the air, something that I have trouble doing when I am actually trying."

"What does not finding my true form have to do with this?" he asked, his voice sounding hurt.

"Did you ever just want to fit in and be normal? Was that your main goal in life as a kid?"

He just stared at me for a few seconds, as if wondering what this had to do with his question. Slowly, he nodded.

"I think that you never took on your true form because your shape-shifting ability was strong enough to hide that side of you completely," I started to explain.

"So why hasn't his true form come now that he wants it to?" Zephyr asked. In all honesty, I had almost forgotten that he was there.

"I believe that he was been in his human form for such a long time that it will take some serious concentration to bring his true form back. Have you ever stayed in human form so long that it is almost painful to switch back?" Zephyr just nodded. "Now imagine that one hundred-fold." Zephyr just cringed. I thought that I saw Danny's face tinge green for a moment, but it passed quickly.

"So, how am I supposed to this without passing out?" Danny asked, his voice shaking a little bit. "The longest you guys have gone without going back to your true form is nothing compared to the seventeen years that I've gone. And if it's painful for you, then it's going to be excruciating for me." So I guess I didn't imagine the green tinge to his face, because it was returning now.

"It's not actually painful, it's just…uncomfortable," I said, picking my words carefully. "And that's only because we normally don't have to focus on changing. You are going to need complete concentration and a lot of time." I didn't know if my words were making him feel better, but his skin went from green tinged to just pale, so I took that as a yes.

"Well, I should probably get started," Danny said, his voice shaking again.

**Please review, it means a lot to me when you do! And a thanks to Dark Angel Gal for constant reviews! If you want me to read and review your stories, just review or PM me! Also, if anything is confusing, and questions or comments, review or PM!**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Danny

I was terrified. I had no idea what was going to happen once I started to take on my true form. Nothing scares you like the fear of the unknown. Especially when the unknown almost certainly involves pain.

Liz had told me that it wasn't painful, but I knew that she was lying. Zephyr had let it slip, and there was no way for her to cover it up. The seed had been planted. And I was terrified.

"Just concentrate," Liz said. This broke my stream of very unhelpful thoughts. I tried to focus, but I had no idea what to focus on.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked. "What am I concentrating on?" Her face turned into a blank stare, like she had no idea how to answer the question. _Great._

"Imagine wings forming from the electricity you control," I heard a voice say. I turned around and saw Jet walking towards us, Emma and Chloe not far behind him.

"If you can picture it in your mind, it will eventually happen. Just focus your power towards your back, then picture wings in your mind." For a guy who I though hated my guts, he could be kind of nice.

I focused, pushing all of the electricity that I could towards my spine. After I felt that I had collected enough, I pictured wings in my mind. I don't know where the image came from, but I felt like I had seen the wings I pictured before, but couldn't remember where. The wings that I pictured were simple, just your average bird wings. Until you got to the tip. Then they turned into deadly spikes.

I could feel the electricity leaving my back, could feel it forming into the shapes pictured in my mind. I wanted to watch, but knew that it would only distract me. Despite what Zephyr had said, I felt no pain when forming my wings.

After a few moments, the feeling of electricity leaving my body ceased. I could feel things on my back and knew that I had succeeded. I smiled to my self, but kept my eyes shut. I wanted to take in the moment for a few seconds. When I was ready, I opened them. Liz was standing right in front of me, smiling down at me. I returned it, and then saw them out of the corner of my eye.

They were exactly as I had pictured them in my mind. And they were beautiful. This caused me to smile even harder, and I could feel the grin taking up my entire face.

"So," Chloe asked. "Are you ready for your first flying lesson?"

Flying was… It was amazing. It took me a few tries to get air born, but after I was, I never wanted to land again. The feeling of weightlessness was addicting. In the air, I felt like I could do anything. And I could. There was nothing holding me back, nothing chaining me to the ground.

"You're a natural at this!" Emma exclaimed. I could see her thoughts echoed across everyone else's faces.

I smiled at her, and then said, "I'll race you back!" Emma returned the smile, and then nodded towards Chloe, who started a count down.

"Three, two, one!" Chloe called. I put on a burst of speed, taking an early lead. I managed to keep it for a good minute before I realized I had no idea where to land. I turned around, and Emma was nowhere in sight. I started to panic. I had no idea where I was and no idea how to get back.

"Beat you!" I heard Emma's voice say. I sighed in relief then turned around. She wasn't behind me. I continued to turn in circles, trying to find the source of the voice. That's when I heard Emma laugh. I almost laughed, too, when I realized that her voice came from above me.

"How long have you been up there?" I asked. I could here the smile in my voice. Emma just laughed again, and flew down to my side.

"The entire time. I let you take a lead, and then flew above you so I could come in for the surprise win. But then you flew past the campsite, so I decided that you had no idea where you were going." She smiled the entire time that she talked, and it caused her green eyes to sparkle. I shook the thought from my head, wondering why it had appeared.

"Do you know the way back?" I asked. We would have no way back if she didn't, because I was completely lost.

"Yeah," she said. "Come on, follow me." She took my hand and directed me towards the way I had flown from, maybe a little to the left. We flew at a steady pace, not trying to out fly each other, but in an uncomfortable silence.

"So," I said, trying to break it. "How did you meet Liz?"

"I went on a camping trip into the woods and got separated from group. I was lost for hours, and I stumbled into a clearing, hoping to fly into the sky and find them. When I got to the clearing, Liz was there, sitting around a fire. She invited me to sit with her, and I did. I had been hiking for hours and I was exhausted." She said all of this in one breath, her eyes glazing over like she was lost in the memory.

"What happened next?" I was curious on how she had been able to stay with Liz even though she was a wanted fugitive at the time.

"I just stayed. I liked her company more than I liked anyone else's. Everyone in the camping group probably assumed that I was dead, because they never sent a search party after me. It wasn't surprising because that was the main reason they had sent most of us on the camping trip. In hopes we wouldn't come back." She sounded resigned, like she had accepted this fact long ago, but still wasn't okay with it.

"That's awful!" I exclaimed. "What could you have done for them to want you to go missing?"

"I was an orphaned delinquent. I attacked soldiers when they did things that I didn't agree with, and I stopped Lydia from overtaxing a man who couldn't afford it. She forced me to go on the camping trip as my form of 'community service.'" Her voice was dripping with venom as she said the last two words.

We flew the rest of the way in silence, my mind reeling with all that I had learned.

**Please review! And sorry for the long space between updates, I've just been really busy. Sorry!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Liz

_Where are they?_ I thought. Emma and Danny had raced off about fifteen minutes ago, and they should have beaten us here. I was worried that they had been captured or… yeah, that they had been captured.

After a few minute more, I saw Danny's electrical wings in the distance. They gleamed in the light, sparks of blue electricity flying off every few seconds. Emma's wings were right next to his, like they were in close proximity. I felt my face flush at the thought of it, but brushed it off when they were close to landing.

"Sorry we're late," Danny said, blushing. "I got lost and Emma had to find me." Emma blushes at this, and I feel like I am going to vomit. They sound so lovey-dovey and they don't even know it. Gugh.

"Took you long enough," Zephyr said. "You sure took your sweet time getting back here, didn't you?" For some reason, he sounded angry. No one else seemed to hear it, but I _had_ known him the longest, so it wasn't surprising.

"Well, now that we _are _back," Emma started. "We should plan our next move. We still need to train Danny how to fight and how to use his power." I agreed with her completely. Danny still had no idea how to use any of his powers. He only knew that they existed, which wouldn't save him in a battle.

"There's no time like the present," I said, clapping my hands together. "What do you want to work on, Danny?"

"Umm," he said, glancing back at Emma. I felt anger grow within me, but pushed it down before anyone else could notice. "I guess I'd like to work on appearance changing?" He said the last part like a question, but I ignored that.

Emma and Zephyr walked away from us, towards where Jet and Chloe were sitting. Emma looked back towards us before she sat down to talk, a look of longing in her eyes. She met my gaze, and I smiled at her. She tried to return the gesture, but I could still see sadness in her eyes.

"So, how do I change my appearance?" Danny asked, breaking me out of my stupor.

"You picture the changes in your mind, and then relax your body, letting it flow into the shape you have imagined. Like this," I say. I close my eyes, picturing my curly, blonde hair turning brown and straight. After a few moments, I can feel the change finish. I open my eyes to find Danny gaping at me.

"What?" I asked, shrugging the change off like it was no big deal. He continued to stare for a few more seconds, and then shook himself, like he just realized what he had been doing.

"So that's really all I have to do?" he asked, doubt still in his voice, even after the demonstration.

"Yes!" I say, exasperation creeping into my voice. He considers this, and then decides to give it a try. He closes his eyes, a look of determination on his face. This quickly melts away into relaxation. The tips of his hair start to turn red, and soon his entire head is covered in red hair.

He opens his eyes and smiles at me. "It worked didn't it?" he asks.

"How could you tell?" I respond, smiling. His smile just grows wider.

"The look on your face is one of utter amazement, like you didn't think I could do it," he says. I knew that he could do it, but I didn't want to tell him that.

"Yeah, well, you never know." I tried to sound nonchalant, but I don't think that it worked. Danny's smile just grew wider, so it now took up his entire face. "Why did you choose red?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"It was the first color I could think of," he responded. "Why? Does it not look good on me?" He faked an insecure voice as he said this, making him sound like a little girl. I burst out laughing, and he joined me instantly. It took us a few minutes to regain our composure after that. Every time we almost did, one of us would start laughing again, causing the other one to break out in a new fit of laughter.

When we finally _did_ stop laughing, we got right back to work. We started small, just changing the color of his hair and skin. After he mastered that, which took all of twenty minutes, we moved on to texture changing. He turned his wavy hair into masses of curls, and then pin straight. After he had mastered that as well, we moved on to changing his hair length. When he went overboard on making it longer, he looked like a shaggy dog and I couldn't stop myself from laughing at him.

After that, Emma, Jet, Chloe, and Zephyr decided to watch our training session. Danny zipped through height changing, deciding to leave himself a few inches taller for a while. When we moved onto bone structure training, Danny asked, "Can you change into animals? I mean, if we can change our bone structure to change the shape of our noses, why not our entire body?"

"Our powers are limited," I replied. "We can only change so much." He just nodded at this. I could tell that he was still mulling the idea over in his mind. After Danny had successfully changed the shape of his face three times, the sun had already gone down. We all decided that it would be a good idea to retire now so that we could get an early start towards the conjecture of the Windows.

I had hardly been asleep for an hour when I felt Danny shake me awake. "You were right!" he said. "I think that my powers are amplified!" I just stared at him blankly, not really understanding what he was saying. "Watch this!"

He took a few steps back, and then began to change. He grew a few inches taller and started to grow dark brown hair all over his body. Then I noticed that his face was changing as well, taking on animalistic characteristics. I wanted to turn away, but couldn't. It was just too mystifying.

After Danny had completed the change, an eight-foot grizzly bear stood in front of me. I was too shocked to speak, but ideas were forming in my head. And one of them stuck.

I now knew how we were going to get into the castle unnoticed.

**Thank you all for reading adnd reviewing! I would like to thank Raz on here because i can't PM him. I will try and introduce your character, but it might take some time. Also, i am no spelling Persia wrong. My made up place is called Perisia. And thank you for your review and for trying to get others to visit!**

**Nevermind, i just got your other review. **

**Please review! :)**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Danny

After everyone had fallen asleep, I still stayed up and practiced. I grew my wings a few times, changed my appearance, and practiced creating balls of electricity. After about thirty minutes of training, my mind wandered back to the question I had asked Liz. Why couldn't we change into animals? Wasn't it the same as just shifting our appearances a bit? But it was mainly her response that floated through my head. _Our powers have limits._

Then I had an idea. If I was supposed to have amplified powers, why couldn't my shape shifting be amplified as well? I pondered over this for a good fifteen minutes before I decided that it was worth a try. I chose to try a bear because they weren't _too_ similar, but not too different either.

I pictured a bear in my mind, took a deep breath, and let my body fall into the shape pictured in my head. It was a different feeling than when I changed my hair color or facial structure. I could feel cold tingles on my spine. It wasn't uncomfortable. Just different.

When the tingles stopped, I realized that I was standing on all fours, but it felt normal. I knew that the change had worked, but I wanted to make sure. I opened my eyes and everything was a different height. I looked down to where my body should have been, but just saw the legs of a full-grown bear. I tried to smile, but it didn't work on my new face.

I changed back into human form, and then walked over to Liz. I shook her awake and showed her what I could to. It took her a few moments to realize it, but then I saw it dawn on her face. I saw something else in her eyes as well. I didn't know what, but I knew that she was planning something.

"Do you think you could turn into a smaller animal?" she asked, staring me straight in the eye, her voice sounding hopeful.

"Maybe. I haven't tried yet," I replied. I shrugged while I said it, and I saw her face fall, like now her plan wouldn't work. "I'll give it a go in the morning," I added quickly. Her face instantly lit up again, and I smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" Liz asked, her smile growing even larger.

"You were right," I said. "And I guess it makes me happy that you were." I didn't know where the words came from, but I knew that they were true. She just smiled at me some more, and then lay back down on her bedroll.

She closed her eyes, and then said, "You should probably get some sleep. We are going to have an early start, and you will need your strength to try changing into smaller animals."

"And why will I need this skill?" I asked. I could hear some sass in my voice, but I hadn't meant for it to be there.

She smiled, before saying," Trust me. It will be useful." I opened my mouth to argue with her, but decided that it was pointless and closed it again. I went to my bedroll and lay down. I hadn't realized how tired I was until I collapsed onto it. I think I was asleep before my head had reached it.

We woke up at sunrise, getting the early start we had planned on. Liz took the lead, showing us the way towards the Windows. I still didn't understand what they were, but I was the only one. Zephyr flew up towards Liz, his silvery-white wings glistening in the sun.

Not wanting to talk to Zephyr, I decided to fly by Emma. We hadn't had much of a chance to talk since I had gotten lost. "So, what _are_ these Windows? They don't make any sense to me," I said as I approached her.

Emma smiled when she realized that it was I, and then responded, "They used to be a way to travel, but then they became a hazard, allowing enemies to take us by surprise. The King and Queen destroyed all of the maps that showed their locations except for theirs." Her voice was in reverie, like she was telling a story that she had been told many times.

"So how did Liz see it?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"Lydia lives in the castle that the original King and Queen did. It's not surprising that she kept that map. It could be very helpful."

"So won't Lydia know where the entrance is and keep it guarded?" It was a simple battle strategy that everyone else was over looking.

"I doubt that Lydia knows that Liz knows where the Window are. She was still really young when she lived there." Emma replied, but her voice had an edge of worry to it.

After that we flew in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, but I still wanted to break it. So, naturally, I asked the first thing that popped into my mind. "How long have Chloe and Jet been a couple?" If Emma had been on the ground, she would have jumped. But, because we were in the air, she settled with a very startled look.

"How long have you known? And thy have been together for about two years, maybe," she said.

"They are always together, and Jet is calmer around her, not as angry." This caused Emma to smile, so I smiled as well.

"He is, isn't he? I hadn't really noticed. He is just angry that Liz won't test to see if you are apart of our circle…" She visibly winced, and turned away quickly. I knew that she had let something slip, but I couldn't decide whether or not to pursue the subject. I settled on asking again later, with hopes that she would be more willing to tell me then.

"Is it normal for two people of the same circle to be together?" I asked, trying to change the subject to one I was a bit more comfortable discussing.

"It isn't just normal, it is expected. Circles are made up of three different pairs that form a group of six," she responded.

Okay, I was wrong. I was not comfortable discussing this.

**Please review! I live off of reviews! If you have any questions, just PM me. Or review! Two weeks of school left! And how was everyone's Memorial Day weekend? Mine was great! Please review! And would you prefer a Liz or Emma POV next? Please tell me!**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Liz

"How are going to get around without being noticed, Liz? The castle will know that you are there," Zephyr cautioned me. I knew he was right, but I didn't want to admit it.

"I will stay in the cooling vent and monitor what is happening. Danny will hopefully be able to turn into a fly and spy on Lydia for a while. After he has a decent amount of information, he will come back to the cooling vent, and then we will leave. It's foolproof." My voice cracked at the end, so I knew that he wouldn't buy it.

"It will still know that you are there, and someone might notice it if the castle tries to help you…"

"Why would the castle try to help her?" I heard Jet ask. I hadn't known that we were being eavesdropped on, or I wouldn't have responded to any of Zephyr's comments.

"The castle will recognize me because I lived there for a few years. And it will want to help me because it hates Lydia just as much, if not more, than I do," I quickly muttered. I couldn't look Jet in the eye as I said it, but I don't think that he noticed.

"Let's hope that it will help you. We will need it." I sighed a quick breath of relief. He had bought it.

Zephyr watched me out of the corner of his eye for the rest of the flight. I watched Emma and Danny talk, laugh, and joke with each other. Jet and Chloe did the exact same thing, but they held hands while doing it. I knew that they were perfect for each other, but I was still skeptical about their relationship. It was not a good idea to have a relationship during a war. It left you vulnerable.

"We are almost there," I said, about an hour later. "Another fifteen or twenty minutes." I could see the long hours of flying wearing down on all of us, Danny in particular. He was still new to it, so he didn't have the same endurance as the rest of us. The sun was beginning to set, and we had been flying all day.

When we final reached our destination, everyone collapsed on the ground, ready to sleep. I thought about unpacking my bedroll, but decided that the ground was comfortable enough for now. I wasn't the only one, either. We all drifted into sleep within minutes of landing.

I woke up the next day, cramped and achy, but ready to face the day. I looked around me, and everyone else was still sound asleep. I stood up, stretched, and then created a fire. I decided to hunt, even though that was normally Emma's thing.

About a half-hour into my hunt, I knew that it was pointless. I just didn't have the same skills as Emma. And I was feeling paranoid. I kept checking the woods behind me because I felt that someone was following me. I couldn't find anyone, so I decided that I was just jumpy from being on the run for so long. I tried to find a game trail for another fifteen minutes before I gave up.

"What are you doing out here?" I jumped when I heard the voice behind me. I fell into a fighting stance, catching my hands on fire as I turned to face my enemy.

"Are you going to attack me?" Danny asked. I let out the breath that I didn't know I was holding.

"I didn't know that it was you. Sorry if I scared you," I muttered. He just smiled at me, shaking his head.

"It's fine. But seriously, what are you doing out here?" He asked, settling into a more serious tone.

"I thought that I would go hunting, but I think that I might just give up now. I'm not going to get anything. Emma will just have to give it a go later." I was sort of talking to myself by the end, so I started blushing when I realized that I had been rambling. "By the way, what are you doing out here?"

He looked down at his feet and blushed. I almost laughed at him, but then he mumbled, "I, uh, kind of followed you." I just stared at him for a few moments before I realized what he said.

"I _knew_ that I was being followed!" I exclaimed. "You did a great job of that, by the way. But why did you have to do it secretly? You could have come along if you wanted to." I half muttered the last bit, hoping that he had missed it. I don't know why, but it felt embarrassing.

"I don't know," he started. "You just looked so peaceful when you were alone. When you around the others, you are almost always guarded. I wanted to see what you did when you didn't think anyone was watching." I smiled at him and blushed furiously. I had to turn my head away so that he wouldn't see.

"Well, did you like what you saw?" I don't know why, but I wanted him to like the unguarded me, even if he only got to see it on occasion. Like right now.

"I don't know," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "All she did was hunt in silence, which is _pretty_ boring." He was smiling while he said it.

"Oh, shut up," I said, hitting him on the shoulder. He stated laughing, so I did as well. We stood there for a good while, laughing like little kids.

We ended up sitting on the ground talking to each other. We talked about his childhood, and about Perisian customs.

"Is it true that circles are made up of three pairs? That's what Emma told me, but…" He eventually asked, shyly.

I knew that this is what he had been trying to get to for the entire conversation, so I decided to give him the truth. "Yeah," I replied. "Circles are made of six best friends, predetermined by who knows what, that always end up together." I could tell that he was hoping that Emma had been lying, and that I had just confirmed one of his fears.

"Do you think that I am a part of a circle?" Danny asked, his voice so quiet that I almost couldn't hear him.

I just smiled at him for a few seconds before saying, "You wouldn't be a Perisian if you weren't. Perisians don't make many friends outside of their circles, so you would be pretty lonely if you didn't have a circle." His face fell as I said this, so I guess it wasn't as reassuring as I had thought it was.

Suddenly, I got an idea on how to cheer him up. "Come on," I said, standing up and offering him my hand. "I want to show you something."

**Please review! Nobody did on the last chapter, so i had to write it in Liz's POV. Does anybody even read these? Only three more days of school! And then three days of exams (BOOOOO!)**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Danny

I had no idea where we were going. Liz was leading me through the woods, weaving in and out of trees so quickly that I almost lost her twice. And that would have been _really _bad because I had absolutely _no_ idea where we were.

"Hurry up!" Liz cried, a few feet ahead of me, from behind a thicket of trees. "WE are almost there." In the distance, I saw a mountain looming over us.

"Are we going to the mountain? Because we really could have just flown there if we were," I pointed out.

"No, we aren't going to the mountain. We're here now," she said, stopping suddenly right before a clearing. I ran into her, almost knocking her over. When we were both steady again, I noticed our surroundings. When I did, I took a sharp intake of breath.

"It's beautiful," I whispered. And it was. There was a very small lake right in the middle of the clearing. There was a small waterfall, maybe six feet tall, which dropped into the lake. The sun reflected off of the lake in just the right way, making it shimmer like glass.

"How did you find this?" I asked. The lake was really small and covered by enough trees that it would be almost impossible to see from the sky.

"I used the Window to escape from Lydia. I ended up here when I was running away. I decided that it would be safer to walk than fly because the sky is so clear here." Her voice was distant, like she was reminiscing in the old memories.

"Let's go for a swim," I said, shaking her out of her reverie. I smiled at her, and she smiled back. Then she ran towards the lake and dove in. I laughed, and then dove in as well. When I came up, Liz splashed a giant wave of water in my face. I laughed and splashed back. Liz squealed, and then started running towards the shore, trying to escape the wave I was about to send her way.

"Oh no you don't," I said, running after her. I caught her before she had reached the really shallow water, so I picked her up. She laughed as I threw her towards the deeper part of the lake. After I tossed her, I dove underwater, swimming towards the spot she had landed. We both popped back up at the same time, laughing our heads off. I sent a giant wave in her direction, but she dove under before it could make contact. When she resurfaced, she spat water in my face. I tried to dodge, but to no avail. She laughed at the disgusted look on my face, and then dove back under the water. We spent the rest of the morning doing this, playing in the water. It was nice having time to just goof off after all of the serious meetings and training I had had since meeting Liz.

When we were both exhausted, we pulled ourselves back onto the shore. We started to talk about trivial things, like how beautiful the lake was. I decided that this would be as good a time as any to ask what had been on my mind since my conversation with Emma.

I took a deep breath before asking, "How do you know who is in your circle? Is there a way to test?" I rushed the words out quickly. She stared at me in surprise for a few seconds before responding.

"You mind out by touching minds with them. If they are a part of your circle, their mind will stick to yours." Her tone made it apparent that she wasn't going to elaborate on the subject. What she said didn't make much sense to me, but it was a start.

After that, we sat in the shallows for a while, watching the sun reflect off of the lake, sitting in silence. It was a comfortable silence, and I enjoyed her company. After half an hour of this, I said, "So this is the unguarded you, isn't it?" She just looked at me quizzically.

"This is who you are when you aren't trying to hide something," I added, trying to simplify what I had said. She just sighed, looking toward the water under her.

"I didn't always hide things, you know," she said, more to herself than to me. "I used to be really open. But then I found out who Lydia really was, and who Nathanial really was, and I kind of lost all trust." I wanted to reach out and comfort her, but didn't know how. So I decided to just sit in silence. If she wanted to talk, she would.

"Danny, can I trust you?" she asked after a few minute of silence.

"Of course you can. Why?" This really confused me because if she didn't trust me, she wouldn't have let me come along with her in the first place.

"If I told you a secret, would you promise not to tell the others?" Her eyes opened wide, making her look very innocent, like a baby lamb. As much as I hated keeping secrets, I knew that she needed to tell this to someone and that I wanted to be the person she told.

"I promise what ever is said from now on will stay here," I reassured her. She just gave me a relieved smile, her eyes lighting up with hope.

She looked out across the lake as she said, "You know how I was raised by Lydia," I nodded as she said this. "I grew really close to Nathanial over that time. _Really_ close." I just stared at her, not understanding what she meant. She sighed before continuing with, "I touched his mind when I was young, wanting to learn how to do it." After she said that, it suddenly clicked. The reason she always kept her mind closed. How Nathanial had found us so quickly the one time that she did.

"Nathanial is a part of your circle, isn't he?" I asked, my voice no more than a whisper.

**Dun dun duh! Please review! The rest of the week and then exams of school left! And next Saturday is my birthday! Please review as early birthday presents to me!**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Emma

_Where are they?_ I thought. When I had woken up, Danny and Liz had been gone. There was nothing to suggest where they were, but there was no sign of a struggle, either. I had spent most of the morning pacing around the clearing in worry. Jet and Chloe just stared at me, not feeling the same as me. Zephyr had left, going for a quick fly to see if he could find them. He came back about a half hour later without any information.

"We'll find them," Zephyr promised me. I wanted to believe him. I really did. But I couldn't. All of the worse possible scenarios were running through my mind. Nathanial could have found them. They could have gone for a walk and gotten lost. I knew that we should have established a mind link with Danny, but Liz didn't want to. For some reason, she didn't want to know who the other two people in our circle were.

"Emma, calm down," Jet said after I had completed yet another lap around the clearing. I had walked it so much that I was sure I would create a rut. "They will come back eventually." It wasn't exactly reassuring, but I sat down anyway. My legs were throbbing from walking around in circles for the past few hours.

Zephyr sat down next to me. We just sat there for a few moments before he said, "Do you really think that something has happened to them?" His voice was laced with worry. I had known that him and Luz were close, but the fear in his voice was enough to make me question their relationship.

"I don't know," I said. "In a place like this, almost anything could go wrong. And since Liz refuses to open her mind to us, it is really hard to know when she is in danger." I put all of my frustration into what I was saying. All of the fear and anger that I felt for them leaving us.

"I'm sure she has a good reason to," Zephyr said after a few moments. He looked at my face, then quickly added, "For keeping her mind shut. She must have a pretty good reason, or she would open it up to you guys." He sounded guarded, like he was beating around the bush, saying what I needed to hear and nothing more. Like he was hiding something.

"What was Liz like when you knew her before?" I asked, trying to piece together what he might possibly know. He looked surprised at the question, but answered anyway.

"She was almost exactly like she is now, only she was less of a leader. She was more content to sit back and let others do the hard work." His eyes glazed over, and he stared into the distance, remembering.

"Were you good friends, or did you just know each other?" I needed to know how much information he had, and he would have more if they had been close.

"I was Nathanial's personal servant because I was the closest to his age. So, yeah, I would say that we were friends. She would play with Nathanial and I, so we grew pretty close over the years." Each time he said Nathanial's name, his face unconsciously dropped into a scowl and his voice dripped with venom. But whenever he mentioned Liz, the moments of depression were forgotten.

"Zephyr," I started to ask. Curiosity was getting the better of me and I had to know. "Do you like Liz?" He gave me a quizzical look. "I mean _like_ like."

He just sighed at this, and stared even farther into the distance, his pale hair falling in his face. "I don't know," he said, refusing to look me in the eye. "I think of us as just really close friends, and I'm not even sure of that. I honestly have no idea what she thinks of me." His face fell as he said the last few words. That's how I knew he was lying.

"You do like her!" I exclaimed. Jet and Chloe looked at us with peculiar expressions, but I knew that they just had no idea what we were talking about.

"No, I don't," he whispered to me, having caught Jet and Chloe's glares as well. "I just don't like not knowing things. I used to be able to read Liz like an open book, but now…" His voice drifted off towards the end, and I decided to believe him. For now.

"Okay," I said. "Then what are you doing here? Not many people would go this far for just a friend."

"Same thing as Danny. And all of you, for that matter. It's better than the other options." He shrugged as he said this. He started shifting around and messing with the dirt, trying to think of something to change the subject. His face lit up as he found it.

"Since we are talking about my love life, what about you and Danny? You guys seem pretty cozy together," he said, smugly. I copied him and started shifting around, completely uncomfortable.

"Um, I think we are just friends," I almost whispered. Zephyr just smiled at this, glad that he was making me as uncomfortable as I had made him.

"That's what they all say," he said in a fake knowing voice. I burst out laughing and bumped him on the shoulder. He started laughing, too. It made his face light up in a way that I hadn't seen before. His dark eyes lightened a bit, making them seem almost warm. His smile was also dazzling. He managed to show all of his teeth without it looking like he was trying.

"What are you looking at?" Zephyr asked, shaking me out of my thoughts. I hadn't realized that we had stopped laughing.

"Oh, uh, nothing," I hurriedly mumbled. I looked away from him as I said this, my mind still turning. I had no idea where my thoughts were going, but it was not where I had expected. Out of the corner of my eye, I studied Zephyr.

He had a face that I would initially take as cold, but now understood as just guarded. His pale complexion worked really well with his almost white hair. He wasn't overly muscular, but you could still tell that he was strong. The more I thought about it, the more handsome Zephyr was starting to look.

I was really shocked at where my thoughts had lead. But the only conclusion that they could come up with was that I was starting to like Zephyr.

**I know that this is entirely full of fluff, but it will hopefully clear up any debates on who will end up with who. Only final exams left! (I'm taking four, BOOOO!) Please review or PM me. Also, Rawzberry, I accidently deleted your OCs. If you could please resubmit them as a PM or to this story, I will do my best to include them in this story or maybe in a sequel, if you guys want one! And no, I am not almost done. I just think that it is a good idea to plan ahead.**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Danny

Liz just sat there, refusing to look me in the eye. I could see tears falling off her nose and chin, head bent in despair. I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her close to me. At the moment, it felt like the right thing to do. We sat like that for a while, with Liz crying into my shoulder. I had no idea what to do, so I awkwardly patted her back. I tried to mummer comforting words, but I didn't know what to say.

After what felt like hours, her cries died into sniffles. Not long after that, she leaned away from me, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "Thanks," she whispered, her voice sounding extremely hoarse.

"It's not your fault, you know," I said, giving one last attempt to comfort her. She still wouldn't look at me, so I took that as an invitation to keep talking. "You don't get to decide who is in your circle, so it can't be your fault."

"If I hadn't opened my mind to him, I would be able to communicate freely with the rest of my circle. They would be able to trust me." She still talked in a hoarse whisper, still refused to meet my eyes. I reached for her hand, but decided against it, thinking that it would just make her even more uncomfortable.

"You were young when you did it. You didn't know that any of this would happen. It's not your fault." I spoke firmly, putting more confidence in my voice than I felt. I mean, I knew that it wasn't her fault, but the idea of Nathanial being able to track us instantly just if she opened her mind was kind of disconcerting.

Her lips pulled up into a half smile, but she still looked towards the ground. I knew that I wasn't doing a _great_ job of cheering her up, but I was doing the best I could.

"Thank you, Danny," she said after a few minutes. I could hear the sincerity in her voice, and it made me smile. It felt good to help her, especially now when she really needed a shoulder to cry on. Literally.

"I think that we should head back now," I said, noticing that the sun was already rather high in the sky. "The others might be worrying about us." Knowing Jet, he would probably be furious.

"Yeah, you're right," she said, wiping her eyes one last time. "Let's get going." She started walking towards the edge of the clearing, so I rushed after her. She was walking at a pace that I wouldn't normally have expected from a girl her size. But, then again, Liz wasn't a normal girl.

We walked for a good thirty minutes in complete silence. The only sounds were birds chirping and the steady beat of our falling feet. After the silence became unbearable, I asked, "Why didn't we fly there? And why aren't we flying back?" My feet were getting sore from all of the walking that we had done. The shoes I was wearing didn't offer very much protection and were worn down, so each step was painful.

"I don't know how to find it from the sky. I found it on foot, and that's the only way that I know how to get to it," she calmly explained. After that, she didn't say anything else. I could tell that she was falling back into her shell of secrecy, which I thought had broken. I guess not.

All of a sudden, I started to feel a chill creep down my spine. I shivered, and noticed that Liz did the same. Goosebumps were forming on my arms, and the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up.

A look of horror spread across Liz's face, like she knew what was going on. "What's happening? Why is it so cold?" I asked. She just stared at the sky in disbelief. That's when I saw the first flakes of snow.

"Follow me!" She said quickly, grabbing my hand. "We need to find cover. Fast." Her voice was determined, but had a hint of fear buried under it. I knew that what ever was happening, it wasn't good.

We ran aimlessly for a good minute before Liz found a cave. It wasn't big. It could hardly hold the two of us, but it would have to do. By this time, it was almost a full out blizzard. "Where…did…that…storm…come from?" I panted. We had sprinted to find a cave, and the cold was not good for my breathing.

"That's Nathanial's power," she said, staring at the wall. I felt a trend occurring. She wasn't used to telling the truth, so she couldn't look at me when she did.

"How does he know we are here?" I asked, fear creeping into my voice. She actually looked at me then.

"He doesn't," she said, a sad smile creeping onto her face. "He is trying to find us, and he is hoping that a storm will wheedle us out. He thinks we'll take to the sky to escape it. If he knew we were here, it would be much more powerful." That was hard to believe as there was full on blizzard raging outside, more powerful than I had ever seen before.

"What if the others do? Take to the sky, I mean." The fear that I felt started showing on her face as I said this. "You need to warn them," I said, trying to sound confident when I felt anything but.

She just shook her head at, tears returning to her eyes. "That's just what he wants. For me to open up my mind and let him know where I am." I could almost see the wheels turning in her head, but she couldn't find a way out of this.

"Then we will just have to hope for the best," I said, leaning back against the wall of the cave. We were going to be there for a while, so I might as well get comfortable.

**Please review! If you guys have any ideas or suggestions, comments or complaints, review or PM me! I really live off of that stuff! I'll post again as soon as I can, but that might not be for a few days because I have finals coming up and I really need to study. Please review!**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Liz

I can't believe that I told him. I have no idea what came over me. That was one of my most well guarded secrets, and I just told him! Maybe it was just the thought that he wasn't connected to my mind like the others, so I couldn't feel his glare even when he wasn't there.

I could just imagine Jet's expression if he knew. First, he would look disappointed in me, his eyes would grow sad and his face would fall. Then, he would realize that I had lied to him, so his face would go red with anger, and a vein would start pulsing in his temple.

I started to smile at the image, but stopped when I remembered why I had pictured it. My eyes started to tear up again. I blinked hard a few times, trying to get rid of them. After I was sure they were gone, I looked out the cave entrance towards the raging blizzard. It was definitely one of Nathanial's because it was mid June. It wasn't his strongest, so I deduced that he had it spread out over a large portion of the woods. At the strength and possible large size of the storm, it probably wouldn't last more than a day.

"You will need to tell the others," Danny said. I jumped at his voice, having almost forgotten that he was there. I gave him a questioning look, not really understanding what he was saying. "About Nathanial. They have a right to know." His voice was so confident and nonchalant that I almost agreed with him. But I couldn't. I had risked everything just telling him my secret. It had made me feel better, but there was no way I would be able to tell my circle.

"I know," I said, lowering my head. "But I can't. They would never trust me again. And they would be right not to." I was confessing all of my fears to him, and I didn't know why. I shivered, less from the cold and more from the realization that most of my fears were about to come true.

"We should probably light a fire before we catch hypothermia," Danny suggested, probably having noticed me shivering. I just nod in response. I want to start a fire more to just have something to do than to keep warm. I start to stand up, but Danny pushes me back down. "I'll go collect some wood. You stay here." I nod, knowing that there was no way he would change his mind. He takes a deep breath, and then trudges off into the storm. I consider going out after him, but decide that it would be no use, since we would just get separated and have a higher chance of getting lost.

When he left was the first time I had actually felt the cold. Danny's body had been radiating heat, and now there was a void. I realized that I had grown used to Danny's company, almost to the point of relying on it. I almost cried out the entrance for him to come back, but I knew that he wouldn't hear me. The wind was yowling, and I was lucky to be able to hear my own thoughts.

I sat in the cave for fifteen minutes, keeping a flame sustained in my hand for warmth, with only my thoughts. I was terrified that Danny would get lost in the storm, that he wouldn't be able to find his way back, that he would… I stopped my thoughts before they could go any further. Of course he would make it back. He was Danny.

After fifteen minutes, my fear turned into panic. He should have been back by now. He wouldn't last much longer in this storm. I was about to go out to find him when I saw a figure in the distance. It took a few seconds to make out his face, but once I did, it was undeniably Danny. I breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way toward our cave.

"Let's get this fire going quickly," he said when he entered. "I'm freezing." And he looked it, too. His fingers were turning blue and his hair was almost frozen solid. He set the wood he had collected into a makeshift pile, and then arranged a few of them into a good fire. Once it was ready, I shot a flame at it. The wood caught instantly, and I could feel the warmth returning to my body.

Danny let out an audible sigh of relief. We sat next to each other around the fire, our shoulders touching. He had a few strands of dark hair falling in his face, and I was tempted to push them behind his ear.

Danny lifted his face then, and looked me right in the eye. "We've come a long way from being a prisoner and guard, huh?" he said, a smile forming on his face. I burst our laughing. Right now, anything would seem funny. I was just so relieved that he had made it back. He started laughing to, and soon we were rolling on the floor of our cave in laughter. I was almost crying from laughing so hard when I realized that Danny's face was just inches from mine.

We stopped laughing at the same time. I could feel his warm breath on my face. My eyes were locked with his and I felt myself move in closer to him. I paused just millimeters from his face, with almost no space between us. I felt a smile spread across my face, felt him lean forward towards me. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew that I wanted him.

I felt his lips touch mine, felt his kiss, and realized that I had wanted him from the moment that I had met him. I kissed back eagerly, but slowly. We stayed like this for what felt like hours, and I felt my guard slip as his arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer to his body. I let myself go for the first time in four years, let myself sink into him.

I also, for the first time in four years, let my mind open.

**Sooooo? What did you guys think? Surprised? Mad? Happy? Let me know! PM me or review! Three days until school is officially over!**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Liz

I knew that I should close my mind, but I couldn't remember why. I was lost in Danny, unable to remember where we were, or why we were there. The only thing that existed was Danny, the fire we were lying by, and me.

He pulled me closer to him, and I let him. My hands started gripping his hair, twirling it around my fingers. We stayed in this embrace, kissing slowly, for probably an hour. The storm around us started to abate, but we didn't notice until it was entirely over.

I don't know why I pulled away, but I did. I think I needed air, but I am not sure if that is the reason. I just smiled at him, and he smile back. I couldn't believe what we had just done. And then I remembered.

I gasped as I realized that the walls around my mind were down. I remembered that I needed them to keep Nathanial out. I started to put them back up when I realized that I didn't feel his presence. I searched my entire mind, but he wasn't there. It was possible that his mind was closed, but I doubted it. He had been trying to enter my mind since the day I left.

I noticed that Danny was frowning at me. "What?" I asked. He wasn't the one who should be confused.

"You have a really strange look on your face," he said. "A very thoughtful and confused look."

I sighed, but smiled. I wanted to tell him the truth, because now I could. "My mind opened when we were…" I let the last part drift away, not sure what had happened between us now that it was over.

He gasped. "But doesn't that mean that Nathanial can find you?" I started to smile at him, knowing that he wouldn't understand what I said next.

"He's gone," I said. "I don't know how or why, but he isn't in my head at all. Even if his mind was closed, I would be able to feel him. He's just gone." My smile grew with each word as full realization hit me. Now I could contact the others!

_Emma! Jet! Chloe! _ I called out in my head. After a few seconds, I was overwhelmed by their responses.

_LIZ! Where are you!_ Jet screamed in my mind. I winced, but responded with, _I am in cave with Danny. We went out hunting and got caught in the snowstorm._

_ What snowstorm? We've had clear skies the entire day! _Emma said. At first, this confused me, but then I reasoned that we could have been on the edge of the storm.

_Nathanial was trying to find us by causing a snowstorm and separating us. It worked, but not as well as he would have liked. He has moved on now, so we will be back shortly._

I could feel all of them sigh in relief. I hadn't realized that I had scared them so badly. I felt kind of bad that I hadn't left a note, but I hadn't expected to be gone for so long.

I cut the connection before they could make me feel worse for leaving with out telling them. I turned back towards Danny, saying, "We should probably get going. The others are worried for us." His face grew red as I said this. I felt my face grow hot, as well. _Great,_ I thought to myself. _Now things are going to be awkward between us._ I started to stand up, but Danny beat me to it. He offered me his hand, and I took it gladly.

After a few minutes of walking, Danny turned to me and asked, "What did you tell the others? About our little…" He drifted off, not knowing how to finish his sentence. I didn't know how to, either. Was it an outing? A date-like thing?

"I just told them that we had gone hunting and gotten caught in a storm. Nothing else." He nodded at that, but I couldn't tell if he was relieved, or disappointed. I wanted to talk about what had happened, but I didn't know how. I kept opening my mouth to say something, but no words ever came.

We were almost back to the camp when I finally got the nerve to say, "I really like you Danny, and I don't want what happened to ruin our relationship." He stared at me for a few seconds, shock apparent on his face. I guess he hadn't expected me to bring it up. But after the shock wore off, his face started falling slowly. He pulled it into a straight face so quickly I almost thought that I had imagined it.

"Sure, no problem," he said. He refused to look me in the eye as he said this. I reached out to put my hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away before I could.

I felt tears start to form in my eyes. I knew I had hurt him, but I didn't know how to fix it. So I did the first thing that came to my mind.

I kissed him again.

Looking back, I probably could have done a million other things to let him know what I was feeling. But this is still the best one. When I kissed him, I felt his lips part in shock. But soon they were moving with mine, kissing me back. I felt his hand move to the small of my back, pulling me closer to his body. We stood there for a few minutes, locked in a passionate embrace. I didn't want to pull away, but I knew that I had to. There was something I needed to tell him.

"Danny," I said, pulling away. "I didn't mean that I wanted to be just friends. I meant that I didn't want to make things awkward between us." He smiled at me, and then leaned forward again. He just gave a quick peck on the cheek, but it caused my face to turn as red as a rose.

"How do we break it to the others?" he asked, pulling away. I started to frown at that, hundreds of scenarios running through my head.

"Oh, I don't think that that will be a problem," a voice said, causing Danny and I to jump. We turned towards the voice slowly, not wanting to know who it was.

There stood Emma, Jet, Chloe, and Zephyr, all of them with smiles plastered on their faces.

**Please review! And sis, if you are reading this, create an account and review! Or just review anonymously! Either way, let me know what you think! First exam is tomorrow! Wish me luck!**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Zephyr

I didn't know what to think of what I saw. I had somehow known that I wasn't meant for Liz, but having it thrown in my face like that was not something I was prepared for. I forced a smile when she looked at me, but that's just it. It was forced. I don't think she could tell, and I half wished that she would have.

I think that the others' smiles were real. All of them, except for me. I felt like a douche and I didn't want to spoil their mood, so I smiled. I would let my anger out later when I trained. I thought about "accidentally" hurting Danny while training, but pushed the thought out as soon as it appeared. That would be a surefire way to get Liz to hate me.

"We, uh, well," Liz started stuttering. It was really cute, but I refused to let myself think about that. I needed to get over her.

"It's okay, you don't have to explain it," Emma said. She had been the one to interrupt them earlier. Liz and Danny just blushed, refusing to meet each other's eyes now that they weren't alone.

"Let's give them some space," I muttered, walking away. Emma glared at me for a few seconds, but followed anyway. Jet and Chloe were not far behind her, and I knew that Danny and Liz would be sucking faces again. Blugh.

"Why did you do that?" Emma asked, her tone extremely stern. I just shrugged her off, but she wouldn't give up. "You have no right to ruin her happiness. She has been alone for a long time and Danny makes her happy, so don't you go and ruin it!" She practically yelled it at me. I had no idea why she was so mad, but it made me realize that I had acted like a douche.

I sighed, not totally sure how to respond. "I don't know why I did it. And I don't want to 'ruin her happiness.' I just wasn't expecting it, that's all." I could feel my face fall as I said it and knew that I sounded pathetic. For some reason, Emma's face fell a bit as well. I saw her try and hide it, but she wasn't fast enough. I frowned at her, but she just waved it away.

Just then, Liz and Danny came back into the clearing, still smiling at each other and acting all lovey-dovey.

"So, what's your plan for getting into the castle unnoticed?" Jet asked. Always straight to the point. That was probably the only thing I liked about him.

"We are going to use the Windows to get in, and then Danny is going to turn into a fly or something and spy on Lydia for a few hours. We will be connected with our minds, so I'll relay Danny's thoughts to you guys, who are staying here." She spoke quickly, like she was scared of how we were going to react. And she should have been.

"What do you mean we aren't going?" Jet said at the exact same time as Emma and Chloe asked, "Danny can turn into a fly?" It took me a few seconds to realize that that _was_ what Liz had said. I had initially skipped over that thought, but now I was just even more confused.

I guess Liz decided to pretend that she hadn't heard Jet, and went straight to answering Chloe and Emma's question. "Danny's power is that all of his other powers are accelerated. He discovered that he could take our appearance shifting a step farther and shape shift." Danny just stood next to her, nodding. His hand kept inching closer towards hers, but I don't think that he noticed. And that made me sicker.

Emma noticed me watching Danny and Liz, and her face fell. It was really starting to annoy me that I was making her sad without knowing what I was doing wrong. I didn't even know why I cared!

"So why are we staying behind?" Jet asked, ripping me from my thoughts. He had that determined look on his face that said "I will not take no for an answer." So, it was Jet's normal face.

"You're staying behind because there isn't a lot of room in the cooling vent that the Window lets out in. I need to be there because I am the only one that know the lay out, and Danny needs to go because he is the only one who can get in unnoticed." She took on her stern tone that I had grown to admire, and Jet backed down instantly. I started to smile at her, but stopped myself. She didn't want my smiles. She wanted Danny's.

After that was settled, Liz, Danny, Jet, and Chloe went to go and train Danny with his shape shifting. I don't know why it took three of them, but they went any way. I decided to vent my anger by practicing. I willed the wind to form a tornado around me. It worked, like I knew it would.

I made the tornado take me above the trees, causing it to grow to the size of a very large one itself. I liked being in the sky, and this was more of a work out than flying. I managed to maintain my tornadoes size for a good minute before Emma popped up next to me. I was so surprised by her appearance that I lost my concentration, and we both fell back to the ground.

I managed to stop us from hitting the ground, but only just. I lowered us down slowly, and then turned to Emma, ready to explode on her. But one look at her laughing face and I couldn't stay mad. I don't know why, but her laughter was contagious. We sat there, cackling, for a good fifteen minutes.

It was strange. In those few minutes that I spent with Emma, I completely forgot about Liz. It felt nice being with someone who I wasn't constantly trying to impress. It felt good to spend time with Emma. Even if all we did was laugh.

**So? What do you guys think? I know that nothing really happened, but I still want to know what you think! So review! And Mariah, my anonymous reviewer, yes, I have read the Gallagher Girls, and I loved your reference! Please review! One more exam! Yay!**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Liz

We spent the next few days training Danny to turn into a small enough animal. At first, he couldn't get any smaller than a rather large dog. It took him a day or two to figure out how to do anything smaller. And even when he managed to turn into a small dog, he couldn't maintain that form for very long.

I was starting to think that my plan wouldn't work. Danny couldn't make himself grow small enough to go around the castle unnoticed. No cats lived in the castle, and no dogs did either. There just wasn't any way that this would work!

Danny was just as frustrated as I was. The only problem was, the more frustrated he got, and the less time he could hold a change for. And then that would make him even more frustrated. So our training sessions normally only lasted just over an hour before he couldn't hold a change for more than a few seconds.

"I can't do this!" Danny said after one particularly difficult practice session. I didn't know what to say, so I just took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Yes, you can," I said, for lack of anything else. "We have all of the time in the world for you to practice. You will get it eventually." I tried to make my voice sound soothing, but I don't think that it worked.

Danny responded with a smile and a quick peck on the cheek. No matter how many times he did it, I still wouldn't get used to it. I started to blush, but returned the kiss before anyone else could see. Even though everyone knew about our…relationship… I was still not comfortable with it in front of them.

I noticed Zephyr sitting and talking with Emma. Emma would help with Danny's training every now and then, but Zephyr never did. I got the feeling that he didn't like Danny now, when he used to get along with him just fine. I decided that I would confront him about it later.

Emma let out a laugh, which brought me back to the present. Zephyr was giving her a rare smile and trying to hide a laugh as well. I smiled at that, happy that Zephyr was getting along with at least one person.

Danny and I sat across from Zephyr and Emma. "So, where are the Windows?" Zephyr asked with a tone of mockery. I guess this is what they had been laughing about.

"There are portals hidden in the wilderness all over for about a three mile radius. This is just a nice spot to camp as it is very close to the center of all of the Windows and is the closest clearing to the one that lets out in the castle," I stated matter-of-factly. I saw his jaw drop a bit, but he readjusted his face before I could laugh at him for it.

"What did you think the Windows were, the trees?" I asked in a joking manner. From the look on his face, I judged that that was exactly what he had been thinking. I did laugh at his expression this time, and he grinned at me.

I caught Emma's eye and my laughing stopped almost immediately. Her eyes betrayed the hurt she was feeling, though her face was hiding it pretty well. If I hadn't known Emma as well as I did, I wouldn't have noticed it. But I did.

This confused me at first; having no idea what she would be upset about. And then it hit me. I was talking to Zephyr in an oh-too-friendly manner. I realized that Emma had been spending a lot of time with Zephyr and that they were both happier than I had seen them in a while.

I kept my face straight as all of these thoughts ran through it. I decided to confront Emma about that. As good of friends as I was with Zephyr, it would be awkward to talk to him about that.

"You okay, Liz?" Danny asked, his face etched with worried lines. I smiled at him, realizing that I had been staring off into space for a few moments.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reassured him. He gave my hand a squeeze, and I saw Zephyr's face darken. I didn't want to worry Danny any further, so I decided to think about that later.

"So what do you guys want to do? Chloe and Jet wanted a little…alone time…and we are done training for the next few hours. Any suggestions?" It felt like forever since I had spent time with Emma, and I felt bad for that. I was hoping to make up for it now.

"Not really," Emma said, shrugging. "We were about to go for a walk in the woods, if you wanted to join us."

I smiled at her. "I would really like that. How about you Danny?"

"Sure, sounds like fun." Danny said, a grin creeping on to his face. I thought that I knew what it was for, so I smiled back.

"We found this awesome lake thing if you want to go see it," I told Emma. She smiled at me. I forgot how easy it was to get along with Emma and how much I had missed her these past few days.

"That would be great. Let's get going then!" Emma said, standing up. Danny stood up as well, and then helped me up. I kept my hand in his as he, Emma, Zephyr, and I went to the lake that Danny and I had been to earlier.

It took us about forty minutes to get to the lake. When we got there, the site literally took the breath away from Emma and Zephyr. Their eyes grew wide, and their jaws dropped open. I smiled at their expressions, and then ran into the lake, pulling Danny along behind me.

We spent the rest of the day at the lake. It was nice to hang out with Emma again, even if Danny and Zephyr were there as well. Occasionally, Danny and I would stay under the water longer than needed to get in a quick kiss.

At the end of the day, we were all exhausted. We started making our way back to camp at sunset. We just joked and talked about anything that came into our minds.

"So, Zephyr, what are your powers?" Danny asked when we were almost back to the clearing. Zephyr looked shocked that he had been dragged into the conversation, which he had tried to avoid most of the day.

"I control the wind and I can control metal, to a certain extent. I can pull it towards me, push it, and bend it a bit. I'm kind of like a super magnet." Zephyr explained. "And since we are on the topic of powers, how is yours coming along?" Danny's face fell the second he asked that question.

"Not…not great," Danny murmured. "I can't get anything smaller than a dog." Zephyr smiled at him. That's when I remembered Zephyr's face falling when Danny squeezed my hand. I pieced everything together and came to a conclusion that I hated to think about.

Zephyr was jealous of Danny, which was why he hated him so much now that he and I were together. And Emma liked Zephyr, who might not have the same feelings for her.

We were just a ticking time bomb of hormones now. Great.

**Sooooo? What do you guys think? And I'm sorry that I might have used the wrong power for Zephyr, but I accidently deleted his OC form. Sorry! Please review and tell me what you think!**


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Danny

Not being able to shift into a small enough animal was…. frustrating. I could tell that it was wearing everyone else down, as well. Except for Zephyr, who seemed to love the fact that I couldn't do it. He would always point it out, and then laugh it off like he was joking. But I knew that he wasn't. I was pretty sure that he hated me, but I didn't know why.

We were all sitting around a fire that Liz had created. Chloe was sitting in Jet's lap, leaning back against him. Liz was sitting next to me, her head resting on my shoulder. I had my arm around her, my head resting on hers. Zephyr and Emma sat next to each other awkwardly, refusing to lock eyes. It was actually quite entertaining to watch them.

"How's training coming?" Zephyr asked, a smile creeping onto his face. This was my point exactly! We didn't need to talk about it, but he just _had_ to bring it up.

"Fine," I said, a little too quickly. Zephyr did this all the time, and I was honestly sick of him and his taunts. He knew I was lying. I could tell because his smile just grew bigger.

"Danny, I've been thinking about that," Chloe said. I was honestly shocked that she had something to say on this subject. She helped with my training on occasion, but preferred to spend time alone or with Jet.

"What about it?" I asked, carefully. It was a sore subject for me, so I didn't really want to talk about it for that long.

"Well, It seems pretty obvious that you can't get small enough," She said. I started glowering at her, but she continued as if she hadn't noticed. "Since you have accelerated powers, what if your invisibility was heightened as well? We can all make ourselves invisible to humans, but what if you can make yourself completely invisible?" She asked it cautiously, like she had been mulling it over for a while and was still scared to let the idea out there.

"That…might actually work," Liz said, a thoughtful expression on her face. Her brow started to furrow, like it always did when she was thinking about something important. "Why don't we give it a try tomorrow?" She directed the question to me, as none of the others had really planned on helping.

I shrugged, saying, "It's worth a shot." I was just trying to hide my excitement that I was moving on from shape shifting. I hated forcing my bones to crunch into impossibly small shapes. That's probably why I hadn't been able to go any smaller. I really didn't want to.

We sat by the fire for a few more minutes, just basking in the light and heat. My mind kept going back to what Chloe had said. I had never turned invisible before, not even in the way that the others can. It sounded difficult, but I was looking forward to the change. Liz stood up and stretched, my side instantly going cold now that she wasn't there.

"Well, I think we should get some rest now," she said. "We have a big day tomorrow." I just sighed, and then stood up as well. I gave Liz a quick kiss good night, and then walked over to my bedroll. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted from shifting so many times today.

I woke up with the first rays of light. It was a habit I had kept from my days in the army. Also, I enjoyed watching the sunrise, especially from the air. I quickly took on my true form, and then took off into the sky.

The sunrise was beautiful. The colors reflected off the tops of the trees in the most interesting ways, and it was always a treat to watch. I slowly flew back down to the ground, terrified, but prepared, for the day ahead.

When I reached the ground, Liz was already up and waiting for me. She smiled when she noticed me, and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I felt myself start to blush. I still wasn't used to this relationship with Liz, but I liked it a lot.

"You ready to try going invisible?" she asked, the smile still splayed across her face. I just nodded at her, too afraid to trust my words. "Okay, we are going to start with the first step of invisibility. Turning invisible to humans." She had a confident tone and was acting nonchalant, but I knew that she was freaking out on the inside. She wanted this to work more than I did, which was saying something.

I spent the next hour going over the theory of turning invisible. After that, I gave it a go. I'm pretty sure that it worked, because Liz's smile grew larger, showing off all of her teeth. "How do you know if it worked?" I asked, confused on how she could tell that I was invisible.

"Because you went completely invisible. I can't see you at all," she said. I looked down and couldn't see my body. I started turning in circles and waving my hands in front of my face.

After I was satisfied that I _was _invisible, I asked, "So, how do I go visible again?" Liz just laughed, shaking her head.

"You just release your concentration on staying invisible. If that doesn't work, then picture yourself visible again, like you do with shape shifting." I hadn't realized that I was concentrating on my invisibility until she pointed it out. I released it, and then looked down at my body again. It had reappeared, and I released a breath I hadn't known I was holding.

"How much energy did that take?" Liz asked, a worried expression on her face. I gave her a reassuring smile to let her know that I was okay.

"It hardly took any," I said. And I meant it, too. I felt no different than before I had turned invisible. "I could probably hold it for a few hours before I even got winded." She smiled at this, a great, big, mischievous one.

"Then we go to the castle. Tomorrow."


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Liz

I could tell that Danny was nervous. Hell, _I _was nervous, and all I had to do was sit in a cooling vent. Danny was the one who actually had to do all the hard work. That night, I put my bedroll right next to his. He needed the comfort, and so did I. He smiled when I lied down next to him. We fell asleep holding hands, sharing in each other's comfort.

I didn't sleep very well, and I don't think he did, either. We both woke up at first light, but it took us a few minutes to get going. We stayed on the ground, doing nothing, until the others got up, as well. I groaned as I stood up, not ready to face the day.

"You ready?" Jet asked Danny, a hint of concern in his voice. Danny's face turned slightly green, but he nodded, anyway. I quickly made a fire, and then reheated some of the food from last night. It was pretty bland, but that's what I needed. I probably wouldn't have been able to taste it, anyway.

After about an hour, we really couldn't stall any longer. "We should probably get going now," I said to Danny. He just nodded, not trusting himself to speak. We started making our way through the woods, towards a Window that was located about fifteen minutes away, in a pond. This pond wasn't nearly as big as the other one we had been to, but that's because it was just a portal, not an actual pond.

We reached the Window in good time, but that's not what we wanted. We stood in front of it for a few minutes, just staring at it. We knew we had to do it, but the thought was still terrifying.

"We should probably establish a mind link now," Danny said in a small voice. I nodded at him, and opened my mind cautiously. I still wasn't positive why Nathanial wasn't in my head any more, but I had a few ideas. One of them being that his spot in the circle had been taken by someone else. I was secretly hoping for that one, but it was vey unlikely.

I reached out towards him and touched his mind. I guess I had been expecting something spectacular to happen, but I was thoroughly disappointed. The only thing that happened was that I could hear his thoughts, which was the same sensation as every other person who's mind I had touched.

_Did it work? _Danny asked in his mind.

I smiled at him and replied, _Yeah, it did._ His face lit up in shock that I had heard his thoughts. I burst out laughing, and after a few seconds he joined me. I guess it was all the pre-mission nerves coming out, because we stood there laughing for a good five minutes.

After we finally got ourselves back under control, we just stared at the portal. "You need to go in first," I said. "Then get out as quickly as possible, but turn invisible the second you get there. I will come through in a minute, and I won't fit in there unless you are gone."

He just nodded grimly, and then took a step towards the Window. He paused for a moment, and then turned to look at me. Then he quickly walked back to me, and kissed me. It was probably the most passionate one yet, but it could only last for a minute. After we broke apart, I whispered a good luck, and he stepped into the Window. He vanished instantly.

I started counting down from sixty so that he would have enough time to get out. I could feel his mind, but that was it. He was too far away for me to communicate with. When I finished counting, I took a deep breath and stepped into the Window.

It was a sensation that I would never get used to. I had gone through a Window a few times before, but I always felt sick afterwards. Not like throw-up sick. Just a spinning head and cold sweat. Windows are extremely fast ways of transportation, but they were not built for comfort.

When I arrived in the cooling vent, I pressed my head against the side and held it in my hands, trying to stop the spinning. After a few moments, I felt well enough to contact Danny. _How was your trip?_

_ You could have told me that it was going to make me sick. That was probably the worst form of travel ever invented._ His voice sounded queasy, but joking. I smiled, but then remembered that he couldn't see it.

_ Are you outside the cooling vent? _ I asked. He was invisible, so I wouldn't have been able to see him anyway.

_Yeah, and I think I see the throne room. Is it the one at the end of the hallway with the really impressive doors? One of them is ajar, so I think I can sneak in…_

_That's the one. Try not to touch the door at all. Lydia might notice if it moves even the slightest bit. She is obsessive like that._

I could feel him smile at that. He didn't say anything for about a minute, but then he said, _I'm in. And I didn't touch the door at all and no one noticed me._ His tone was proud, even in his head.

_Is Lydia in there? She has reddish hair, and is probably wearing a crown and a scowl._ I started to scowl as I was talking about her, and I think Danny could hear it in my voice.

_Yeah, she's here, but she's alone except for Nathanial. And they aren't talking about anything good; just which chef they should fire for the poor dinner they received last night. Wow, these guys are babies!_

_Just stay for an hour, and if they say anything good, repeat it to me._ I cut the link so he couldn't see what I was about to do. I wasn't going to _show_ myself, exactly. I just wanted to see if the castle had noticed me yet. Judging by the lack of guards down the hallway I was in, I would take that as a no.

I peeked out of the cooling vent, scanning my surroundings. The hallway was bare except for a few paintings of Lydia on the wall. I wanted to burn them, but knew that that would give my position away.

That's when I noticed that the torches nearest me were glowing very brightly. Too bright for a normal torch or normal fire. In fact, all of the torches in this hallway were too bright for normal fire.

The castle had noticed me. I just hoped that no one else would.

**Please review! School's over! YAY!**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Danny

Listening to Lydia was the most boring thing in the world. All she did was act bitchy about the stupidest of things, make empty threats towards Liz, and praise Nathanial. Half of the time, I felt like vomiting, which wasn't helped by the nauseous feeling traveling by the Window had given me.

I stood in the throne room for what felt like ages, but was probably only an hour or two, when I started to feel faint. I realized that the invisibility was taking its toll on me. _Liz,_ I thought, hoping that she had reestablished the connection.

_Yeah?_ I heard her say in my mind. I was overcome by a wave of relief, knowing that she hadn't left me here alone.

_I don't think I can hold out much longer. I am making my way back to the portal now._ It took so much energy to talk to her, that I felt my feet start to drag.

_That's fine, just make sure that no one knows you were there. Try to be as stealthy as possible._ I almost laughed at the way she said that. She was trying to make light of the situation, which I desperately needed.

_I am almost out of the throne room. And I am…Now._ Just as I slipped out, I felt my invisibility failing. I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold it, so I released my hold on it. Not to sound narcissistic or anything, but it felt really good to see myself again. _I dropped my invisibility._

_You what?_ Liz screamed in my head. I guess it wasn't my _best _idea_, _but I was a few minutes away from fainting.

_I couldn't hold it any longer, so now I am visible._ I tried to sound defensive, but I think I came across as whiney.

I could feel her sigh, and smiled at her. She could get exasperated over the stupidest of things, but that just made me like her more. I was almost to the cooling vent when I heard guards coming around the bend. There was no way I was going to be able to get in there in time, so I bolted back to the throne room, but took a side hallway just before I got there.

_Danny, what are you doing?_ Liz asked. She knew that I was supposed to be there by now, and she was worried.

_There are some guards in the hallway, and I didn't have time to get into the vent. _I explained, trying to keep my thoughts level.

_And you didn't turn invisible because…?_ I knew that she was mocking me now, but it was a fair point. I really should have just turned invisible. But in the state I was in, I am not sure that I would have been able to manage it.

_I wasn't thinking. But it's too late now, anyway. The guards are probably already in front of it. There is no way that I would be able to make it past them._ I heard her sigh in my head, and grinned slightly to myself.

_They are on their way towards the throne room, so you might want to find a better hiding spot._ I cursed softly, but took her advice. I ran further down the hallway, looking for a safe place to hide. I found one behind a suit of armor. It was a nice alcove that was full of shadows. I crouched in the corner, glad that I had worn dark clothing.

The guards that had blocked my exit walked past about two minutes later. I held my breath as they passed, not wanting to give them any reason to notice me. After they had passed, I contacted Liz again. _Is the hallway clear? I would prefer if I didn't have a run in with a guard._ I tried to put some sass behind it, to let her know that I was joking, but still be serious. I didn't really work.

_No, the coast is not clear. I think that Lydia noticed something earlier, or she is having a meeting now. There are guards posted in front of the throne room, so there is no way that you will be able to sneak past them unless you turn invisible again. You ready? _She sounded supportive, but terrified at the same time. Like she knew that I wasn't ready.

_I will take that silence as a no. I think I can create a distraction that would pull the guards away from their posts…_ She trailed off, lost in thought. Although it was kind of annoying when she did that, I thought that it was kind of cute.

_I've got it. Keep an eye on the guards, and when they leave their posts, make a run for the vent. Get through as fast as you can and I will join you on the other side._ I wanted to argue with her, but she cut the connection before I could.

I cautiously peeked out from my hiding spot, looking at the guards standing guard at the throne room door. After about thirty seconds, I heard a crash, and saw the guards go running off down the hallway that the vent was. I thought that it was stupid, but I rushed after them, getting to the vent as quickly as I could with out being noticed.

I slipped in easily, still unnoticed by the guards. Come to think of it, I hadn't even seen the guards in the hallway. I hadn't thought that would have moved that quickly for something stupid, and worried at what Liz had done.

I searched the walls of the vent for the portal, and found it in the very back. The second I touched it, I got the same nauseous feeling that I had gotten before. This time, when mixed with my fatigue, it caused me to pass out. I woke up on the side of the Window, my head throbbing. I looked around slowly, looking for Liz. She was nowhere in sight.

I tried to reach her with my mind, but could only feel her presence. Like when I had first gone through the Window and Liz had still been here.

That meant that Liz was still in the castle.

**Today is my birthday! So, as a present, could you all review? Please?**


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Liz

This was definitely not my smartest idea. But, hey, it worked. So I'm not complaining. It just didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped.

So my plan was to blind the guards for a few seconds, sneak out and make something fall, and sneak back in. The first two things went flawlessly. The third…well, not so much.

When I finished my conversation with Danny, I made the torches around me explode. This blinded the guards long enough for me to run down the hall, knock over a suit of armor, and sprint back. Sadly, my explosion hadn't been powerful enough. The guards saw me run back into the hallway.

We just stared at each other for a few moments. I think it took them that long to recognize who I was. Then they started running towards me. I have always prided myself on being a fast runner, especially when it came to long distance sprinting. I knew that I could shake these guys, but that it would take some time.

Fortunately for me, I knew the castle just as well, if not better, than the guards that were chasing me. I wasn't sure if they had called for back up or not, but I wasn't going to take any chances. I remembered a secret passage that was a slide to the level below that was just up ahead, behind a statue of the first King of Perisia. I put on an extra burst of speed and made my way towards it.

I slipped behind it before the guards rounded the corner, sliding down before they could notice where I had gone. It was extremely uncomfortable, but it was better than running. I hit the ground in a roll, breaking my fall. I sprang up the second I could, continuing my sprint for freedom.

I worked on controlling my breathing and treading softly while I ran. I made almost no noise, and made my way quickly towards a secret staircase, hidden behind a tapestry, that would take me back up to where I had come from. It was times like this that I really wished that I had Danny's power.

Just then, two guards appeared ahead of me. They were different than the ones who had been guarding the throne room, which meant that the alarm had been sounded. It was going to be hell trying to get back to the Window.

I turned into a side passage just as the guards started running after me. I knew that I wouldn't be able to make it to the stairs before these guards caught me. They were fresh, and I was slowing down. That's when I got another crazy idea. Like the first one had gotten me anywhere good.

I extended my mind towards the castle. I know it sounds crazy, but it had a chance of working. _If you remember me at all,_ _please help me,_ I said to it. I must have been out of my mind, but I was desperate.

I ran through a doorway, and than the doors slammed behind me. I a click and knew that they had locked. I smiled, ecstatic that the castle had answered my plea. It knew whom it actually belonged to, even after all of these years.

After that, I took the next two left turns, so that I ended up back in the main hallway. My breath was starting to come in short gasps, but I had to keep running. I made it to the tapestry without anyone else finding me. I quickly moved it aside, and started climbing the stairs. It was steep, almost like a ladder. It caused my legs to burn so much that I had to crawl on all fours.

It only took me around thirty seconds to get up the stairs, but it was still excruciating. I had to pause at the top and catch my breath for a few precious seconds. I started running towards the cooling vent, anxious to get out of the castle.

I was almost there when I heard a voice behind me say, "Well, well, if it isn't our own resident princess. How may I help you?" His voice dripping with sarcasm, Nathanial stepped out of the shadows.

"Nathanial," I said. Well, more like growled. I tried to sound menacing, but it sounded lame, even to my ears.

"How did you manage to get me out of your head?" he asked accusingly. I just smiled at him, unsure what to say because I didn't know the answer.

"How did you find me?" I asked. I was trying to distract him so I could maybe slip into the portal.

"I knew you got in through the Window, so I decided to stake it out. You had to leave somehow." He smirked at me while he said that, extremely proud of himself. I made a noise of disgust, but he just laughed it off.

"What I want to know is what you were doing here. And why you came alone." I almost sighed in relief, but caught myself. So he didn't know that Danny had been here. That was good.

Danny! I had said that I would meet him on the other side! He would be beside himself with worry, and he might come back! I couldn't decide if I liked that thought or if I was against it.

So instead I just answered Nathanial's questions. Albeit, very untruthfully, but, hey, he didn't know that. "I came to spy on you. And I came alone because the castle knows me and helps me. The castle belongs to me, and it knows that. How do you think I escaped all of your guards?" Nathanial's smirk dropped, and he opened his mouth to say something.

It never came. I heard a thump, and saw Nathanial's eyes roll up into his head. He collapsed on the ground with a dull thud, and behind where he had stood was Danny, a large branch in hand.

**Sorry for the missed day, I had to babysit yesterday. Please review!**


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Danny

Liz should have been back by now. Especially since I had passed out. Something was wrong. I made a snap decision, grabbed a large branch lying around the pond, and went back through the Window.

I instantly felt sick, but I didn't pass out this time, which I took as a good sign. I lied in the cooling vent for a few seconds, waiting for the world to stop spinning. I was just about to jump out when I got a better idea.

I quickly turned myself invisible, new energy coursing through my body. I checked to make sure that the branch had been turned invisible, as well. When I was satisfied with its invisibility, I peeked out of the vent, and saw Nathanial standing there, facing the throne room. I slipped out, preparing to sneak past him, unnoticed. Instead, I saw Liz, and froze.

I listened in just as she said, "This castle belongs to me, and it knows that. How do you think I escaped all of your guards?" She was smirking as she said it. I decided that this was my chance. I dropped my invisibility and lashed out at Nathanial, clocking him on the head with my branch. It made almost no noise, but he fell down, nonetheless.

"Danny!" Liz exclaimed, a giant smile spreading across her entire face. She ran towards me, and then gave me a giant hug. I hugged her back, so happy that she was okay. I was overcome with relief, and I rested my head on top of hers, just to assure myself that she was there.

"We should go," I said after about a minute. Guards could come here at any second, so we really shouldn't have stayed here this long.

"Okay," Liz said, nodding her head. She pulled away, but remained holding onto my hand. She walked me back towards the vent, refusing to let me go. We went back through the Window, and this time it didn't bother me as much. I guess it is something that you get used to.

When we appeared next to the pond, my hand was still in Liz's. She pulled me close to her, and kissed me. I slowly kissed back, slightly surprised by her actions. We stood there, kissing, for about five minutes, before I pulled away. I knew that the others would be worried about us, and I wanted to put them out of their misery.

"We should go back to the others. They are probably sick with worry," I told her. She just sighed and nodded. She took my hand and led me back to our campsite. We walked the first few minutes in silence, going over everything that had happened today. That's when I remembered something that Liz had said earlier.

"Liz, what did you mean when you said that the castle belongs to you?" She just stared down at the ground pretending that she didn't hear me. "Liz?" I asked again, letting her know that I knew she had heard me.

"I really don't want to talk about it," she mumbled. I wanted to press her for more, but she interrupted me by saying, "How much of my conversation with Nathanial did you hear?" She sounded worried, like one of her darkest secrets was in jeopardy.

"Just that. I didn't realize that anything else had been said to qualify it as a conversation." I know that I sounded bratty as I said that, but I was just mad at her. She shouldn't talk to Nathanial about anything, as he was the enemy.

"It wasn't really a conversation. It was more of a 'you are about to do something to me, so I'm going to keep you talking till I can think of a better plan' sort of thing," she defended quickly, responding to my angry tone.

We walked the rest of the way in silence. I tried to think if anything useful had come from our escapade, but I couldn't think of a single thing. My mind just kept returning to what Liz had said.

When we arrived at the camp, Jet and Chloe were sitting by the fire, easing each other's worry through their presence. It was kind of cute, but the second they saw us, they sprang up, and ran to hug Liz. I stood next to them awkwardly, toeing the ground so that I didn't have to watch their little love fest.

I was still feeling like a loner when Emma rushed towards me and gave me a hug. I hadn't noticed were she had come from, but Zephyr was not far behind her.

"How did it go?" she asked, hopefully. I just dropped my gaze, not wanting to admit that the trip had been a complete failure.

"That bad, huh?" Zephyr said as he walked closer to me. "Any way, glad you're back. Mr. Grumpypants over there is such a buzz kill. It would have been really boring with him being the only other guy around." I took this as a very warm welcome, as Zephyr and I had not gotten along for the past few days. I was unsure why, but I decided that this was our reconciliation for that.

"What did you guys do while we were gone?" Liz asked, joining our conversation. She gave Emma a quick hug, and nodded in Zephyr's direction. That was odd, as normally would have given him a hug, as well.

"Worried. Practiced. Worried. Had a snack. Worried. Practiced some more. And did I mention that we worried?" Emma said, her smile growing each time she said worried, even though she said it in a completely serious tone.

Liz smiled at her, and hit her lightly on the shoulder. "Well, we are back now, so you can stop worrying."

"Did you learn anything useful while you were there?" Jet asked, intruding on our conversation.

Liz and I avoided each other's gazes, and mumbled our 'no's'. Jet stared at us incredulously. "Are you going to go back and try to get useful information?" he said. I could tell that he was going to lose his head with what we said next.

I was not disappointed.

**Please review!**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Liz

I was honestly surprised that Jet's head didn't burst. He yelled at us for what felt like hours, acting like an over protective parent or sibling. It was almost funny, but I couldn't bring myself to laugh. We _had_ screwed up, and this was our consequence. Considering what could have happened, I would take this any day.

After Jet finished with his yelled rant, Danny and I kept our heads hung. We refused to look him in the eye, or even look at each other. This was our fault, so we had to deal with it. Luckily for us, Zephyr had another plan. Unluckily for me, I hated it.

"We should focus on finding the princess. If we find her, we can convince the Perisians to back her up and over throw Lydia. With the rightful queen in the lead, we should have no problem taking over," he said, with a smirk on his face. It was directed at me.

I scowled at him, and then said, "We don't _want_ to take over. We want a new leader put in place." I tried to sound fierce, but he just laughed at me.

"You can't want one without the other, hon." He continued to laugh as he walked away. I glowered after him, while the others continued to stare at us, looks of confusion on their faces.

"He's right," Jet said, sighing. "Right now, that is our only option." I wanted to scream then, but settled for stomping off angrily. No one knew why I was against this plan, and I wanted to keep it that way.

Danny ran after me, but I managed to lose him. I didn't know where I was going; I just let my feet take me. I ran aimlessly for a few hours, going from Window to Window, making sure I knew were each one was. I didn't really need to do it, but it gave me something to take my mind away from what I wanted to think about.

If I let myself think about it, then the others might here it. I never knew when they were listening in on my thoughts, and that was very disconcerting. Especially since I had so many secrets that needed to stay that way.

After a while, I found myself walking towards the lake. I decided it would be nice to just sit there and reflect on all that had happened today. Also, it was definitely out of range of my connection with Jet, Emma, and Chloe.

I arrived there about fifteen minutes later, when the sun was just about to set. I thought about walking back to camp, but decided against it. I would just spend the night here. Walking back to camp in the dark was not high on my priorities list.

I was sitting next to the lake, my feet dangling in, when I heard a cracking branch behind me. I immediately created my sword and spun around to face the noise. I relaxed when I saw Zephyr's face, but went back to my fighting stance almost as quickly.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, my voice dripping with venom. I pointed my sword at his chest, preparing to strike.

"I was about to ask you the same question, but I doubt you would answer," he replied with a shrug. "I came looking for you. You know, for a girl who has kept secrets her entire life, you are an awful liar. Every one will know that something is up with the way you are acting, and that will only lead them to the truth faster."

He was right, but that didn't stop me from wanting to hit him. "It's your fault. You put the idea in their head, and now they are going to find things that they really don't need to know." But it wasn't his fault. I just wanted some one else to blame beside myself. I should have told them the truth a _long_ time ago, but I never knew how. Now they would just be angry with me for keeping secrets.

"What ever you say, but they are going to find out eventually. You should just tell them, and save them all that work." Again, he was right. But I would never admit it. Especially not to Zephyr.

"They won't find anything. Lydia hid everything perfectly. If there was any information left, someone would have found it by now. It's been almost twelve years. There is nothing." I felt my voice choke as I said the last words. I felt like a part of me was gone, along with the information.

"She can't have gotten rid of every thing. There is a trail, and they will find it. Especially because I will be pointing them in the right direction." He smirked again, more smugly than every before. I knew he was just trying to get on my nerves, and it was working.

"Why? Why don't you just tell them yourself? If you want to ruin my life so much, do it outright, so that they know it was you who did it!" I don't know why I lost it then, but I did. I could feel tears forming in my eyes. I wanted to run, but I had nowhere else to go.

"I don't," I heard Zephyr mumble. I stared at him with a look of complete hatred, a strong desire to hit him almost taking over. "Want to ruin your life, I mean. I just want Lydia gone, and I think that this is our best chance. And I think that you need to accept that."

The tears that had been forming finally fell free. I started sobbing, letting all of my pent up emotions out. I hadn't realized how mad and frustrated I had been until I let it all out. Zephyr reached out to comfort me, but I pushed him away. I had many reasons to do that, the most prominent being that I hated his guts right then. Another being that I didn't want to give him any false hopes. I still hadn't been able to talk to him about…yeah.

So I ran. Again. I didn't know where I was going. Again. After only a few minutes at a flat out sprint, I arrived at my destination.

The cave where Danny and I had first kissed.

**A special thanks to Holly 9737! Thanks for all of the reviews! Sorry for the missed day, I had some writer's block How's everyone's summers going! Mine is great!**


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Danny

I chased after Liz, but lost her in the woods. I might have been faster than her, but she knew the woods better. She disappeared after about thirty seconds. I wanted to search the woods looking for her, but knew that it was a lost cause. I would never find her. Not if she didn't want to be found.

I had no idea why she had run off. There was no reason to get that angry over a plan that you don't like. I walked back towards our camp, my head hanging and my feet dragging. I was angry with myself for not being able to talk to her before she ran away.

As I reached the clearing, I saw Emma, Chloe and Jet staring at me expectantly. Zephyr was off by himself, with his head in his hands and his knees bent into his chest. I felt a sudden surge of anger towards him, and I balled my hand into fists to release it without hurting him.

"Did you manage to catch her?" Emma asked, her voice laced with worry. I just shook my head, not able to talk without betraying my anger.

"Why did she freak out like that? I mean, it was a pretty good plan," Jet said, more to himself than anyone else.

"Why don't you ask Zephyr?" I was surprised when I realized that I had said it. I watched as Zephyr lifted his head for a few moments, but then went back to his position of despair.

"Well? Zephyr? Do you know why she freaked out?" Jet asked in his parental voice. He really did act like a father, which was kind of funny as he was the shortest guy here. Zephyr gave an almost imperceptible nod, which caused my anger to spike back up. "Are you going to tell us why you did it and why she freaked out?" Wow, Jet would make a _great_ parent. Even I felt chastised, and I hadn't done anything wrong!

"It's not my place to tell you. You will have to ask her when she gets back." He barely lifted his head, and his voice was a whisper. Also, I could see the ghost of a smile forming on his face. That's when I finally snapped.

I kicked Zephyr in the head, knocking him down. I repeatedly kicked him in the gut before Jet managed to pull me away. "What was that for?" he yelled at me. I refused to answer, and continued to try and reach Zephyr, who was starting to stand up. Emma had rushed over, and was starting to heal him. Good. That means I injured him.

Jet continued to hold me in his firm grip until Zephyr was fully healed. Then he put himself between us so that I couldn't attack him. Emma remained by Zephyr, a worried look on her face. I thought that she was showing a little bit _too_ much concern for him, but decided to push it off for now.

"What is with it with you two? You can't seem to stand each other now, when you used to get along just fine!" Jet said from his spot between us. Zephyr just glowered at me, so I returned the favor. "ANSWER ME!" Jet screamed.

Zephyr just gave me one last look, and then ran off into the forest. I wanted to chase after him, but Jet caught me as I ran past him, grabbing my arm and keeping me from moving forward. "Let. Me. Go." I said in a very menacing voice.

Jet just shook his head. "You don't want to fight him. We don't need to be any more divided than we already are. Besides, we need to find Liz." He was right, of course. I relaxed my body, a sigh escaping my lips. Jet released my arm. I considered making a break for it, but decided that he would catch me anyway.

"Where do you think she would go? I mean, she wouldn't go too far, would she?" Chloe asked, a hint of doubt in her voice.

Jet sighed, saying, "I don't know. I think we should check every place that we've been. So that's really only the lake place you two went to and the Window. If we start there, we might get some clues as to where she is." We all agreed to his plan, as it was the only one we could think of.

So that's how I found myself running towards the Window, knowing that I wouldn't find Liz there. I wanted to be the one to check the lake, as that was where she would most likely be, but I was the only one who knew where the Window was. So Emma got to go and check the lake. Jet and Chloe stayed behind in case she turned up there.

I waited at the pond that his the Window for a few minutes, reflecting over everything that had happened. I felt bad for lashing out at Zephyr, but I still thought that he deserved it. He had no right to play Liz's emotions like that, going for her weakest points and exploiting them. Why finding the princess was something she was against was completely beyond me, but he still had no right to point it out.

Then I realized that I was sitting where Liz and I had kissed before entering the portal. That's when I remembered that there was another place that might hold some significance for Liz. Maybe enough for her to go there when she was depressed.

The cave where we had first kissed.

I made my way there quickly. Even though it was only a slim chance that she would be there, it was a much bigger one than the pond that hid the Window. I was close got lost twice, but it was almost as if I could feel Liz's presence in my mind, leading me towards her. I don't know how, but I just _knew_ that she would be there.

As I arrived at the cave, her presence felt stronger in my mind. I didn't know why I could feel her, as I thought she had cut the connection when we got back from our mission in the castle. I almost didn't want to enter it, in case she wasn't there. I walked in slowly and felt my heart skip a beat.

There she was, fast asleep on the floor of the cave, right where we had first kissed.

**Please Review! **


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Zephyr

I was still sore from when Danny had kicked me, but I knew that I deserved it. He was just being protective of Liz, and he had a right to be. I needed to get over her, and I needed to stop bringing her past to the present. There was a reason she ran away, and I needed to respect that.

I remained by the lake for a good fifteen minutes after Liz ran back into the woods. I knew I had missed my chance with her, but the open rejection still hurt. I stared across the water, trying to regain my composure before I returned to camp. Luckily, I didn't have to.

Emma appeared behind me just I was getting up to leave. The sun had gone down, so at first I didn't recognize it as her. At first I thought it was Liz, and a smile spread across my face at the thought that she had come back. Emma must have been expecting someone else, because when she realized it was me, she frowned. I don't know why, but that hurt almost as much as Liz's rejection.

"What are you doing here?" she asked me, her voice as cold as ice. I guess I deserved it for having run off earlier.

"Nothing. Why? Were you expecting someone else?" I tried to act like I didn't care, but I don't think that I fooled her. Her face softened into an almost smile, and the moon shone in her pale blue eyes, making them look almost silver.

Her voice was sad as she said, "I was hoping that Liz would be here. She still hasn't returned yet, and we are all worried." That, I could tell. I doubt any of them would have gone searching if _I _had run off. Now that I think about it, they hadn't.

"Well, you had the right idea," I said, sitting back down and looking over the lake. When Emma didn't respond, I added, "You just missed her. She left about fifteen minutes ago."

"And you didn't try to stop her?" Emma all but yelled at me. I flinched at her voice, even though I was expecting it.

"I wouldn't have been able to even if I tried. She hates me right now. She wouldn't listen to me." I could hear the sadness in my voice, and so could Emma. For some reason, she looked hurt by my words.

"Do you know why she got so mad?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper. She had made her way next to me, but remained standing. I nodded slowly, not wanting to say it out loud. "Then why?" Her voice was pained, like she _really_ wanted to understand. Not just why she was upset, but why I would do that to her deliberately.

"Like I said earlier, it's not my place to tell you. Liz will when she is ready. But, judging by her actions, I don't think she ever will be." I was saying the truth. There was no way in hell Liz was going to tell them anything. Not when she had been working so hard to keep her past a secret.

She looked disappointed, her face falling in defeat, lips pouting in a cute way. She sat down next to me with a _humph_, releasing a large amount of air, which caused a giant wave to form in the lake. I had almost forgotten how similar our powers were.

When the wave finally crashed, a large amount of the spray hit us. I burst out laughing when I saw Emma drenched, her face falling even farther than it already had. I hadn't meant to laugh, but I was glad that I did.

Emma started laughing, too. We sat there for a while, laughing at how things had turned out. Once we had regained our composure, Emma said, "I bet you can't make a bigger one." I just smiled. Challenge. Accepted.

I focused on the wind surrounding me, creating a giant wall of it in front of me. Of course, I couldn't see it, but I could feel it there. See, that's where Emma's powers and mine differed. She created wind, where as I controlled the already existing air.

After I had collected enough air, I willed it to shoot into the water, like a giant cannon ball. It had the desired effect, soaking both Emma and I, while also almost draining the lake. I felt kind of bad about that part, but that feeling wasn't nearly as powerful as the feeling of pride. There was no way Emma could beat that one!

Suddenly, I realized that I heard a noise next to me. I looked at Emma, and saw her clapping, slowly, but loudly, staring at the low level of water in the lake. There was a look of approval on her face, which caused me to smile. "Beat that!" I said, starting to laugh. Emma quickly joined me, her eyes sparkling in the light of the moon.

"I would, but I don't think that there's enough water left," she said, her laugh still lingering in her voice and on her face.

"Well, I guess that means I win, if you are accepting defeat..." I was having fun messing around with Emma. Honestly, this I couldn't remember having more fun since the time we had gone to the lake with Danny and Liz. It felt nice to laugh again, and to not think about Liz. Around Emma, I could be myself, not the person I thought Liz would like.

"No way," Emma responded, already getting into a position to better create a giant wave. She stood up, considering how to best launch her ball of air at it. I saw her face light up as the perfect idea came to her. "Watch this," she said, her lips pulling into a mischievous smile.

She quickly changed into her true form and jumped into the air. She flew up about fifty feet, towards the center of the lake. The moon reflected beautifully off of her white feathers. I shook my head, bringing myself back to the matter at hand.

After she positioned herself just right, she created a humongous ball of air, and shot it at the center of the lake. Unfortunately, her wave was definitely bigger than mine. Also, the lake was completely drained after that. I just stood there, staring at the empty place where the lake should have been, a dumbstruck look on my face.

Emma landed next to me, an enormous smile on her face. "Now who's the one who has to accept defeat?" she asked me. I couldn't think of a way to respond, so I just smiled at her. "We should probably head back now, so we can't be caught with the evidence," she fake whispered.

"Let's go," I said, pretending to be running for my life. Emma just laughed at me, grabbed my hand, and ran with me back to camp.

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	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Liz

I woke up in the cave, with Danny's arms wrapped around me. At first, I started to push away, but when I realized that it was him, I relaxed. I didn't remember falling asleep, or Danny showing up. I remained in his arms for about an hour longer before he woke up.

"Good morning," he whispered, a smile on his face. He gave me a quick kiss before getting up and stretching. "I was going to wake you up when I found you, but you looked to cute. So I decided to let you sleep, and to stay with you. I guess I fell asleep, though," he added with a shrug.

I laughed at him and his excuses. He just gave me a sheepish grin before saying, "We should probably head back now. The others will be _extremely _worried." I immediately stopped laughing, remembering the reason that I was in the cave.

Danny must have noticed my face falling, because he frowned at me, a puzzled look on his face. "Don't you want to go back?" he asked, his voice a little scared, as if he didn't really want to know the answer.

"Of course I do!" I said, trying to sound cheery, but failing epically. "I'm just worried about what the others will think when I get back." I whispered the second part when I was sure that Danny was no longer listening.

As we walked back to camp, Danny told all that had happened after I had run off. How he had attacked Zephyr for the way he treated me, and things like that. As mad as I was at him for attacking Zephyr, it also made me happy. I guess it was nice to know that Danny would stand up for me, even if I wouldn't.

"Why do you always get angry when anyone mentions finding Princess Katherine?" Danny asked when we were about halfway back. "I mean, I think that it's a good idea, and so does everyone else."

I wanted to tell him the real reason, but I knew that I couldn't. I had worked so hard at keeping this secret, and I wasn't going to blow it now. "I just think that we won't be able to find anything, and it will be a complete waste of time," I said. And it was half true. I did think that it was a complete waste of time. But I was worried that they _would _find something.

"That isn't really a reason to get that angry," he tried to reason with me. Sadly, he didn't know the half of it. I really _did_ have a reason to get that angry, especially with Zephyr. But only he knew that. So I decided to just play along.

"I know," I said, hanging my head in shame. "I just lost my temper. I really need to work on that," I added with a half smile, trying to lighten the mood. I guess it worked, because Danny stopped pressing the subject.

We walked the rest of the way in an awkward silence. Danny was probably hoping that I would spill just to start a conversation, but I was _not_ that weak. I walked silently, wishing that he would ask me something else.

When we finally arrived at the camp, Emma jumped up and bear hugged me. "Don't ever do that again! You scared us so badly!" she said in my ear. Zephyr just nodded towards me, avoiding actual eye contact. Good. That meant that he felt at least a _little_ bit sorry for what he had done.

Jet and Chloe showed up a few seconds later, emerging from the woods, training swords in hand. Chloe ran up and hugged me, just like Emma had done. Jet walked forward slowly, and then gave me a quick hug. I could tell that it was awkward for him, so I pulled away quickly.

"Where did you find her?" Jet asked Danny. I was about to point out that I was standing right there, but Danny responded before I could.

"I found her in the cave we hid in when Nathanial trapped us in his storm," he explained, giving nothing away. "I decided to stay there for the night, as it was very dark and I didn't know my way through the woods. Also, Liz was fast asleep when I found her, and I thought it best to just let her sleep," he added, with a shrug.

Jet nodded at this, and walked away, motioning for Danny to follow him. Emma decided that she wanted to go for a fly, as she wanted to spread her wings again. Chloe joined her, leaving Zephyr and I. Alone. Great.

"Liz, I…I need to talk to you," Zephyr said after a few moments. It looked like he was struggling to find the right words, and like he really didn't want to talk, but knew that he had to.

"Well, no time like the present," I said with fake cheer. Zephyr's lips twitched up, but then went back to their stoic expression.

"I…I'm sorry for the way I've been acting around you," he said. Well, more like whispered, but at least he was trying, right?

"It's fine, Zephyr," I said, even though it really wasn't. "You think you're doing the right thing, and that telling them would be the right thing to do. I just don't agree with you." I was trying to be diplomatic, but Zephyr saw right through it.

"It's not fine. As much as I think you should tell them, I shouldn't be pressuring you this much. If anything, it will just make you _less_ likely to tell them." He was right, but I didn't want him to think that he had ruined any chance of me telling the others.

"I know that I should tell them," I whispered, so that he could barely hear it. "But I'm scared that they will hate me for keeping it a secret for this long." There. I said it. The main reason I wouldn't tell them was because I was afraid of losing them.

"Well, you'll never know unless you try," Zephyr said, placing his hand on my shoulder.

**Sorry for the missed days. I've had some writer's block and I've been working on my summer homework. Please review!**


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Danny

Jet led me into the woods, far enough in that no one would hear us. We walked there in silence, Jet unwilling to even give me a hint of what we were going to talk about. Suddenly, he stopped, causing me to almost walk into him. Luckily, I stopped myself before I did. That would have been awkward.

"Do you have any idea why Liz gets touchy when we talk about finding the princess?" Jet asked with an almost accusing tone.

"No, she hasn't told me anything," I said, feeling my face fall as I did. I didn't mean to act sad and depressed, but I was. That was probably the one secret about herself that Liz hadn't told me.

Jet could tell that I meant it. I could see it in his eyes. The resignation that he would probably never know the truth unless Liz finally decided to tell us the truth. Which was very unlikely, as she had kept this secret from the others for years. There didn't seem to be a reason to tell them now when she could have a long time ago.

"What do you think it is?" Jet asked, desperation in his voice. Honestly, it scared me how worked up he was about this.

"Why do you need to know?" I asked in a calming voice. Not scary calm, or angry calm. Just calm. Jet got a blank, searching look on his face. "If it was necessary information, Liz would have told you by now."

I started to walk away, leaving Jet to his thoughts. I don't know why I said what I did, because I was just as curious as he was. But I knew it was the right thing to do. If Liz wasn't ready to tell us, then we shouldn't push her for an answer.

I walked in the direction that I thought camp was when I realized that I had no idea where I was going. And I had no idea how to get back to Jet, or if he was even where I left him. I started to panic, paralyzed with fear. This was honestly the one thing I hated about the woods. Everything looked the same, and it was so easy to get lost. I had known a fair few soldiers who had gotten in the woods when I had been in the army.

I had no idea what I was going to do. If I kept walking, I had a much greater chance of getting even more lost than finding the camp. But if I stayed here, it was still unlikely that I would be found.

That's when I remembered what I had done the day before. I had felt Liz's conscience, and used it to find my way to the cave. I searched my mind for her presence and found it a few moments later.

That shocked me a little, because Liz had supposedly cut the connection between us after our trip to the castle. I decided to question her about it later, just happy that I had a way to get back.

I tuned into her conscience, not really sure what I was doing. _Danny?_ I heard Liz ask in my head. I smiled, glad that my plan had worked. _What are you doing? And how did you get in my head?_ Her voice started to sound accusing during the last question, but just curious for the first.

_Um, I kind of got lost in the woods, and I remembered how I found my way to the cave the other night._ I could feel her confusion through the link, which was alarming. I hadn't thought that possible.

_ What do you mean, you remembered how you found the cave?_ Her tone wasn't accusing, just slightly suspicious. And she had the right to be. I had completely forgotten to tell her about that.

_ I was trying to find my way to the cave, and I could feel your presence in my mind._ _It led me to the cave. Otherwise, I would never have found it._ Again, I could feel her confusion.

_ But I cut the connection._ _You shouldn't be_ _able to feel my mind without searching the area for it, which, trust me, you would know if you did._ I smiled at that last line. Even when she was flustered, Liz still found little ways to make me smile. One of the reasons I lo…liked her.

_ Well, try it again._ _If you can't find your way back, just send some lightning in the air. One of us will come and find you._ She sounded troubled, still trying to figure out the information that I had given her.

_ Okay, be back shortly._ _Hopefully._ I could feel her smile through the link, but then she cut the connection. I could still feel her in my mind, which was, in my opinion, a good sign. I started walking again, but felt her presence get weaker. I turned around, and it grew stronger again.

I smiled, glad that it was working. I made my way in that direction for a while, adjusting myself whenever the connection grew fainter. In about fifteen minutes, I had found my way back to the clearing.

Jet must have found his way back before I did, because he was sitting around a fire, talking with Liz and Zephyr. Liz must have made up with him, because they were acting like nothing had happened. Like Zephyr hadn't pushed her too far. Like they were old friends.

I guess that this made me jealous because I could feel my hands start to tingle. I looked down and saw sparks flying from my fingertips. I balled my hands into fists, hoping no one else had noticed.

I walked towards Liz and sat down. That was when I was finally noticed. "Danny! Did it work?" Liz asked, surprise evident on her face. I guess she hadn't expected it to work.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. Liz grew a troubled expression, and then started staring into the fire. I started looking at fire, too, when I noticed Zephyr staring at me. When I finally looked him in the eye, he just nodded, trying to see if we were cool. We most definitely were _not_ cool, but I nodded back, anyway.

I had to at least try to be friends with him. For Liz's sake.

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	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Liz

Of all the things that had happened since I met Danny, only two things had ever troubled me. One: Nathanial disappearing from my mind, which I am not complaining about. Two: My mind staying connected to Danny's, even after I had cut the connection.

The one about Nathanial troubled me more, but I somehow knew that the two were connected. It was just too much of a coincidence that Danny would appear in my head only days after Nathanial had left. And I hadn't believed in coincidences to begin with.

The only thing that I could think of was that my fate had changed when I met Danny. It was taught to all Perisians that there was one person destined for you, and you would know who they were when you had your circle. I had known that I was destined for Nathanial, but now I wasn't so sure.

When I had lived at the castle, I had spent most of the time in the library, researching. I liked the idea that, if something ever happened, I might know how to solve it because I had read about it somewhere. Now, I was using what I had learned.

Circles were always composed of people who could easily find each other. That's why I wasn't surprised when Nathanial was in my circle. Also, Jet, Chloe, and Emma were all children of people who had been friends with my parents. They might not have recognized me, but I sure as hell did.

I fell asleep with thoughts like that floating around my head. I kept my mind closed because I didn't want the others to know what I was thinking. It was too personal. Sleep was a long way coming, and when it did, it was fitful. I really hated questions that I couldn't answer, and I knew that this one would be a very challenging question.

I woke up at first light, feeling even more worn out than I had the day before. And I still didn't have an answer as to why Nathanial and Danny had switched places. Or even if they _had_. I decided that that would be the first thing we did today. Combine minds and see who was in our circle. I was pretty sure Zephyr had a chance, as he had worked for Nathanial when we were children.

I started a fire, cooking some deer that Emma and Chloe had caught last night. I was really starting to get sick of wild game, but it was the only food that we knew was edible. Everyone woke up within the next fifteen minutes, the smell of smoke jarring them from their sleep.

"Wow, Liz is cooking?" Zephyr joked. He had a right to, as I hardly ever actually made the food. He started to laugh, and the others joined him, including Danny. I was glad that they were making nice now. I smiled at Zephyr's joke and waited for them all to calm down.

When it was apparent that they wouldn't, I said, "We have to discuss something after we eat, so eat quickly," in a serious tone. That got their attention. I just stared at them, my face blank. They all ate in record time, and then we got right down to business.

"So, what is this meeting about?" Chloe asked when no one else would. I admired her bravery for that, as she normally didn't participate in these types of discussions.

"I've been thinking about what happened last night," I said. I immediately received confused looks from Emma and Chloe. I had completely forgotten to tell them about what had happened last night!

"Danny got lost in the woods, and found his way back by finding my mind, which he really shouldn't be able to do," I quickly explained to them. They nodded in understanding. "So, I was thinking about that, and I thought we could do an experiment." At those words, Danny's expression grew worried and scared, like I had mentioned fighting a bear or something horrifying like that.

"What do you want to try?" Zephyr asked, concern on his face. They all had so little faith in me! I realized that Jet was being uncharacteristically quiet. I looked over to where he sat, and found him asleep. I quickly grabbed a twig and threw it at him.

"Wha?" he said, jolting up. He realized that everyone was now staring at him, and he coward down. "Sorry about that. I didn't get much sleep last night." He shrugged it off, yawned, and then gave his attention to me.

"As I was saying," I began again. "I want to combine minds, and see if Danny and Zephyr are part of our circle." I was rewarded with shocked expressions from everyone. Especially Zephyr, who thought that there was only one spot left in our circle.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Jet asked. "Who wants to go first?" The second question was directed at Danny and Zephyr.

Zephyr took one look at Danny's pale face and said, "I'll go first, I guess." Jet just nodded at him, and then closed his eyes. A few moments later he opened them. I saw Zephyr nod, as if he was answering a question. Jet nodded in return, closed his eyes for a moment, and then returned his gaze to Zephyr. Again Zephyr nodded.

"I think Zephyr's in," Jet said. "I severed the connection, and he could still hear my thoughts, and that means he should, theoretically, be a part of our circle." I just nodded, not sure how to respond. I was actually not very happy with that knowledge, but I couldn't say that out loud. I would have to talk to Zephyr about keeping my secret from "accidently" floating up in his thoughts.

"Your turn, Danny," Jet said, turning to face him. Zephyr gave a poorly hidden snort, and I glared at him. Luckily, no one else noticed, as they were all to intent on watching Jet and Danny. The same transaction occurred between them as with Zephyr. Jet gave me a nod after he was done, which could only mean one thing.

We now had a complete circle.

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	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Jet

I had not slept well that night. That was the only reason I fell asleep during the meeting. I was normally extremely attentive, but my mind just wasn't in it. I had been thinking about everything I knew about Liz, and what her secret could be. And why she would hide it.

The thought had been plaguing me since I first met her, but lately it had been bothering me even more than usual. Probably because Zephyr brought the topic up more than it ever had been. I mean, I liked the guy, but he got on my nerves very easily. Especially with the way that he would point out Liz's secret, and then give nothing away, just that he knew it.

So, yeah, that was why I had fallen asleep. I had never done that before. It was a one-time thing. I hope.

Going into Zephyr's mind was interesting, to say the least. He only allowed me to see what he wanted me to see, and had impenetrable walls around the rest. Only one other person had ever had that ability with me. I guess it came from years of practice, because Liz was able to do it, too.

I have to say, I was kind of depressed when I found out that Zephyr was a part of our circle. That was just another person who would read all of my thoughts, and yet share none of his. All of this secrecy between him and Liz was really aggravating, and having it go on in my mind was double the annoyance.

In contrast, going into Danny's mind was extremely routine. I saw everything, even things I really didn't want to see. I was actually relieved to know that Danny was in our circle, as he would be the one to make Liz open up. She had never been happier than she had the past few weeks, and I had known her for a few years.

Judging by the smiles on everyone's faces, they were as happy as I was that our circle was complete, maybe even happier. My mood was slightly darkened by Zephyr's presence in my head, but I refused to let it show.

Emma and Chloe joined minds with Zephyr and Danny within the next minute or so. Emma stayed a bit longer in Zephyr's mind than was required, but only I would notice that. Being an expert on the mind, and all.

"So, now what?" Chloe asked. It was just like her to get right down to the point, but only I really knew that. No one else knew Chloe like I did. She didn't talk much around the others, but we would stay up late talking about nothing and everything. She was my polar opposite, and that was what made her perfect for me.

And that's what I knew Danny and Liz were experiencing. Maybe not the polar opposite thing, but the perfect for each other one. That's why I wasn't surprised that Emma lingered in Zephyr's mind the way she did. She probably knew that she was made for him, just like I did. But I also saw the way that Zephyr acted around Liz. First, he would be all jerky, like he didn't care. And then, he would be kind and nice, trying to make up for what he did.

Well, anyway, I knew that the next few days would be interesting, getting used to the two extra people in our minds. And, for Danny and Zephyr, the _five_ extra people. Truthfully, we only ever actually entered each other's minds in emergencies, but, still, the fact that your mind is connected to five others is pretty overwhelming.

"I have no idea, I hadn't really planned this far," Liz admitted. No one held it against her, as no one else could come up with anything, either.

"How about we go to the lake, and have some fun?" Danny suggested. When we all just stared at him, he added, "After this _stressful_ morning, we all need to relax!" He really had a way of making any situation lighter. I never thought that I would admit it, but Danny was actually a pretty cool guy.

I watched as Zephyr and Emma exchanged guilty looks, but said nothing. I had no idea what they had done, and I didn't want to know. Since no one had a better idea, we went to the lake. I didn't have a clue where we were going, and neither did Chloe. So we followed behind the others, who were sharing found memories of the lake. Emma and Zephyr kept giving each other sideways glances, and then smiling and trying to hide their laughter.

We walked for about twenty minutes, and I memorized the entire path. It was just habit by now. When ever I went somewhere new, I memorized how I got there so that I could return or leave alone, if need be. It was a useful skill that I prided myself in, though only Chloe knew that.

"What happened!" I heard Liz exclaim from the front of the group. Emma and Zephyr caught each other's eyes, and then burst out laughing. Well, that solved why they had been looking at each other the entire walk here.

I walked up to Liz, and noticed a crater in the middle of a clearing. After a few moments of study, I noticed a few small puddles on the bottom. Since it hadn't rained recently, and it was pretty hot, I decided that this must have been the lake, and that somehow Emma and Zephyr had drained it.

Liz noticed Emma and Zephyr laughing and gave them an evil glare. "What did you two do?" She asked, her voice growing steadily louder. Besides me, Liz had the smallest temper in our circle.

"We, uh, kind of had a splashing contest, and we got carried away," Emma explained between giggles. This caused both her and Zephyr to break out in a fresh bout of laughs. Liz just glared at them angrily for a few minutes, and then stormed away.

"Now what are we going to do?" she asked, to no one in particular. Luckily for her, Chloe had an answer.

"I think I can fill the lake again, if you are willing to let me try," she said, in a small voice. It was worth a shot, so we gave her the okay.

Chloe quickly changed into her true form, and then flew up to the clouds. She turned the condensation into rain, and aimed it all at the newly drained lake. After a few minutes, it was half way full, enough for us to get in and start "relaxing," as Danny would put it. I didn't like it at first, as Chloe wasn't there with me. But once the lake was full and Chloe had come back down, it was a blast!

**Bad ending, I know! But I couldn't think of a good one. Next chapter should be exciting, if it goes as planned! But don't hold me against it, as I'm not totally sure. Either the next one or the one after that! Review!**


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: I am sooooo sorry for the long wait, guys! I have been really busy, and had hardly any time to write. I hope this chapter makes up for it! Also, my dad has a friend coming to stay for a week, so I might not be posting everyday, like I have tried to. It might be two or three days in between postings. Just a heads up. Please review!**

Chapter 39: Liz

I had honestly forgotten what it was like to relax. Spending the day at the lake help me more than I had thought it would. Just being with the others without the need to keep secrets… It felt better than I wanted it to. Almost good enough for me to want to share. Almost.

Just then, I felt a hand on my back, pushing me forward and causing me lose my balance and fall. "You're it!" I heard Zephyr scream in a childish voice through the water. When Zephyr acted like this, he was nice to be around, not a burden or hassle. Actually, I never really minded Zephyr, just the threat that he posed to me.

After I rose back to the surface, I noticed everyone grouped together at the other end of the lake. I grew an evil grin, dove under the water, and swam towards them. Sadly, the water was clearer than it had been before, so they saw the attack coming. I arrived where they had been, but they had cleared out before I could do anything. Well, there went that plan.

Chloe was the closest to me, so I decided to make her my next target. While this was Chloe's natural element, I might have _just _been able to surprise her. I made as if I was swimming towards Emma, but turned around quickly. Luckily, Chloe was no longer watching me, so I was able to sneak up on her.

I was about to tap her on the shoulder when I got a better idea. I leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "You're it," causing her to jump about three feet in the air. And I mean literally. Three feet above the water. That's how well my plan worked.

And that's pretty much how the rest of the day went. We played tag until it was time for lunch, which we hadn't brought. Lucky for us, there was a bush of strawberries that wasn't too far away. After we had all eaten our full, we basked in the sun for an hour or two. We were all exhausted from playing in the water, or, at least I was. But, seeing as we all lay there in silence, I was pretty sure they were, too.

After we had all recovered, we started to walk back to camp. We took it slow, talking and joking with each other as we went. It was nice being able to talk to the others with out anyone looking to me for leadership. Since I was the first runaway, I had been nominated unofficial leader, which I hated.

We had made it back to the clearing when it suddenly started to get cold. Like _really _cold. That's when I felt the first snowflake.

"We've been found!" I said to no one in particular. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Nathanial had found us.

Well maybe not _exactly_, but we were as good as found. There was no way we could stay hidden in the storm he was about to create. This time, there wasn't a cave for us to hide in. We were gone.

Danny grabbed my hand, trying to pull me somewhere. I wouldn't let him. It was time that I stood my ground to Nathanial and fought him, not just run.

"We have to go!" Danny yelled at me. "Now!" I could see the fear on his face, but I didn't respond to him. I just shook my head and let go of his hand. "Liz! Come on!" He was terrified, and he had a right to be. The snow was now a blizzard, Nathanial's specialty, as he was a controller of water.

"No!" I said to him, trying to keep my voice level and firm. "I'm not running any more. You guys leave. I'll hold him off." I wasn't trying to sound brave, or like a good leader, or anything. I just wanted them gone when Nathanial got here. When he, inevitably, defeated me.

"I'm not leaving you!" Danny said, reaching for my hand again. I pulled away, tears forming in my eyes. This would probably be the last time I saw him.

"Hide in the woods, before he gets here. I'm the one he wants, not you, not the others. Me. I'll take care of him, just get out of here while you can," I said, turning away from him. He pulled me into a hug, refusing to let me go. I let him hug me, not wanting this moment to end. Not wanting to leave him. Not wanting to leave the others. But I had to, or they would be fugitives forever. And it would be my fault.

Then I felt Danny's lips on mine. It was a hungry kiss, like he knew he might not be able to do it again. I kissed him back, willing the moment to last forever. But I knew that it couldn't.

I pulled away, tears spilling from my eyes. "Stay in the woods until he's gone," I said, pushing him away. "I'll see you then." I tried to smile at him, but I knew that it looked fake. I watched him try to protest, but then think better of it. There was no way to argue with me.

After a minute of waiting, slowly becoming more and more afraid, I saw him. Flying over the clearing, looking for us in the storm that only he could see through. I was suddenly filled with anger, more than I had felt in a long time. To make sure that he didn't miss me, I sent a fireball his way, aimed straight for his gut. I think I hit him, as he started falling at an alarming rate.

He hit the ground with a loud grunt. I attempted to kick him while he was down, but decided against it. I was better than that, and I needed to act like it. I let him get up, but kept my fist ready at his throat. Any sudden movements, and he would have a fistful of fire.

It wasn't what he said next that surprised me it was how he said it. Like he _wasn't_ about to die a fiery death. "Well, Katherine, it's nice to see you again."


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Danny

Well, I had not been expecting that. I had just been about to run out and help Liz, despite what she had said. But now… Well, I don't think I could have moved if I wanted to. I was paralyzed with shock. And judging by the almost complete silence in my head, neither had any of the others. Except for Zephyr. He was screaming profanities at Nathanial.

After I recovered enough to think again, I started listening to the rest of Nathanial and Li… Katherine's conversation.

"What are you doing here, Nathanial?" I heard Liz say in a cold voice. I don't know how it made Nathanial feel, but it scared the hell out of me. As she said this, the blizzard raging around us slowed down until it finally just stopped completely.

"Well, I've come to take you home," he replied, his voice sickly sweet. I had never wanted to punch some one as much as I wanted to punch him right now. And I was travelling with Zephyr, who I almost always wanted to punch.

"No, you didn't. What do you want?" She asked again, catching her fist on fire. For a girl her size, she was extremely intimidating.

"If you must know," Nathanial started. "I have come to arrest you and your group of…Friends." He practically spat the last word out, like he couldn't believe she would associate herself with us.

I started to growl at him. I don't know why, but it was a good way to get the anger out without giving away my position. I could feel Jet, Chloe, and Emma starting to get over their shock, as well, and heard Zephyr plan the best way to attack.

_That's not going to work,_ I said, interrupting his thoughts. His plan was for a head on attack, which would only be helpful if Nathanial and Liz were in different positions.

_ Well, I'm not going to just sit here while Kate is in trouble! _Zephyr yelled. I was shocked at how easily he switched what he called her.

_ The best thing we can do for Liz is wait,_ I cautioned him. As much as I wanted to race in there and help her, waiting was the option that would help her the most. If she needed us, we would be there, but not before.

_ If she dies, I will personally kill you._ His voice was dripping with venom, but I was okay with it. He would have to get in line to kill me if Liz died. There was no way I could live with that regret.

I went back to watching Nathanial and Liz. I still refused to call her Katherine, or anything other than Liz.

"Why don't you go to your original form?" Nathanial asked her, a smile growing on his face. I don't know why, as he was in the most precarious position I had ever seen.

What Liz did next surprised me more than I would have liked. She just sighed, and let her features relax. Her normally blonde hair turned red in front of my eyes. She shrunk down an inch, which made her even smaller. Her facial features changed slightly, growing more regal.

The worst part was that this look actually suited her better than her other one. It just fit her better, and she looked more confident now.

"That's better," Nathanial said, smiling. I was about to break my own rule and run out there when Jet said, _It's not the right time yet, Danny. Don't do something you will regret. _I settled for just sending bolts of electricity into the ground and pretending that Nathanial was there.

_Liz has this under control,_ Emma said, more to herself than to us. But it was still nice to hear. To imagine that this might have a happy ending. But Liz _did_ have control. She had the upper-hand, with Nathanial on his knees. But he was just playing with her, and she knew it.

"Now, I want you to lower your hand," Nathanial said, his voice remaining calm. Finally, Liz did something that I _did_ expect.

"Why should I?" she asked, putting her fist closer to his throat. Nathanial raised his hands, trying to calm her down.

"It was just a suggestion," he said. I don't know how he was staying so calm. It was kind of unnerving. But, then again, that could have been his strategy. Catch Liz off guard by being civil and polite.

Sadly, it might have been working. Liz had extinguished her flame, her fist slowly falling lower and lower. I tried to reach out to her mind, but she had blocked us out. Probably to "protect us," but it might now have put her life in danger.

_We need to do something!_ I screamed at the others. I had absolutely no idea what we _could_ do, but maybe they had some ideas.

_ For now, we still just need to wait._ _We don't want to accidently spring a_ _trap by going in._ Of course Jet would think that. If it had been Chloe in there with Nathanial, he would be the first one to spring into action.

Just then, the snow started to pick up again. Nathanial was instantly blotted out from my vision, as was Liz. I wanted to scream her name and find her, but was advised against it by Zephyr. Of all people, Zephyr was the one person I would least expect to give me that advice. Well, this was just a day full of surprises now, wasn't it?

I saw something move in the snow, but didn't want to attack it incase it was friendly. I watched the shadow run straight into the center of the blizzard. Making a snap decision, I ran after it. It took me a few seconds to find it again, but I was faster than the shadow. I trailed behind it for a good fifteen seconds before it realized that I was following. It lashed out, shooting fire in my direction.

"Liz, it's me!" I said, really hoping that I was right. I saw her shoulder's relax and heard her sigh.

"Thank God!" She said, running in to hug me. "I thought Nathanial was trailing after me!"

Just then, I heard a voice say, "Well, you weren't wrong."

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	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Zephyr

Why did Kate have to be so stubborn! If she would just open her mind, then I would be able to find her and help her! For now, the best I could do was listen through Danny, who had somehow found her in the goddamn storm.

When I heard Nathanial's voice a few feet in front of me, I knew that I was close. Hopefully he was looking the other way, as he could see through this storm and I could not. That's when I heard the scream.

It was muffled, but undeniably Kate's. Nathanial must have found her! I suddenly got an idea, and created a tornado around me. It had the desired affect, pushing away enough snow so that I could see in a circle ten feet around me. Luckily, Nathanial was in that circle.

I was about to attack him when he turned around, holding a now unconscious Kate in front of him. I held myself back, afraid that I would hurt Kate in the process of attacking Nathanial.

"Well, if it isn't my old friend," Nathanial said, a smirk on his face. "How are you, Zephyr?"

"Let Kate go and I promise that I will not hurt you," I said. It was a total lie, as I would hurt him anyway, but it was worth a shot.

Nathanial just laughed at me. "And how do you plan to hurt me without injuring Kate? You always had a crush on her, and now it's just stronger. I don't know how you stand being this close to her and yet not coming clean," he said, playing all of my feelings. Nathanial had always been good at that. Saying just the right thing to make your day suck.

I tried really hard to not let what he said get to me. But it didn't work. I let my guard down, and that's when he struck. I got a face full of snow, knocking me to the ground. I remained dazed for a few seconds, but that was all Nathanial needed. He sprung into the air, carrying Kate with him.

As soon as I could, I went after him. I didn't care what the others had to say, so I pushed them from my mind. They would just distract me if…when I caught up to Nathanial.

It was almost impossible to find him when I finally got to the top of the storm. I was lucky that Nathanial had decided to fly _above_ his storm instead of through it. I would have never found him if he did. Making a snap decision, I flew right into him.

I know, not my smartest idea, but I was thinking on my feet. Figuratively speaking, of course. I knocked Nathanial right out of the sky. Unfortunately, both Kate and I went with him. I tried to slow Kate's fall with air, and I think it worked, as her body didn't make any unnatural sounds when it landed.

Sadly, the same can't be said for me. When I hit the ground, I hit it. And hard. Like, bone shattering hard. I honestly heard my arm snap when it hit. I instantly regretted looking at it as the nausea set in. I almost lost my lunch when I saw the bone protruding from my right elbow. I didn't even _want_ to know how that had happened.

I tried to stand, but felt a strong sense of vertigo during the attempt, causing me to fall over. After the world had stopped spinning, I tried again. There was no way that Nathanial would stay down much longer, if he was even still here. I needed to find Kate and get out of there.

I managed to get myself onto my knees without too much difficulty this time. I waited in that position for a few seconds, gathering myself before I actually stood up. When I did, I was shaky, but at least I was up. I quickly searched my surroundings, looking for Kate and Nathanial.

I found Kate about ten feet away, unconscious in some bushes. I made my way over to pick her up when Nathanial was suddenly in my way.

"Oh, I don't think so, Zephyr," he said, shaking his head. He must have noticed my arm, as his smile suddenly grew. I reached toward where I normally kept my sheath and sword, but remembered that I had taken it off before we went to lake! I had forgotten to grab it in all of the commotion, and now I was weaponless.

Luckily for me, Nathanial had forgotten what my power was. He slowly reached for his sword, cautious in case I decided to attack despite my trashed arm and lack of a weapon. When his hand was about an inch from his sword, I reached out to it with my mind, pulling it towards me.

"Well, I don't think you'll be needing this!" I said, throwing it as far as I could into the woods, with the help of the winds to carry it extra far. In my current state, there was no way I could handle his sword effectively.

"My sword!" he cried. He sounded so pathetic that I almost felt bad about it. Then I remembered that he was trying to take Kate hostage, so all feelings of sympathy disappeared. "You're going to pay for that, Zeph!" he said, unintentionally calling me by the name he had used when we were little.

"Not if I can help it," I heard a voice say. I turned around to face it quickly, which was a bad idea. I instantly felt sick again as I accidentally jolted my injured arm. I started seeing black spots all around, but forced myself to remain conscious. After a few seconds, I could finally make out Emma standing behind me.

As soon as I made that discovery, I felt cold. My vision blurred again, but this time it was because of snow in my eyes. It remained like that for a good fifteen minutes, with me unable to see anything and to cold and injured to move.

After snow disappeared, I saw Emma leaning over me examining my arm. But Nathanial was gone. And so was Kate.

**Please review!**


	42. Chapter 42

**A/N: I am SOOOO sorry for the long wait. Because of the giant storm, I have had a bunch of people staying at my house. And then we went on vacation to a place where the internet was down. I will post this as soon as I can. Again, I am really sorry for the wait!**

Chapter 42: Danny

I was going to KILL Nathanial. That was probably the seventh time I had fallen unconscious in the past three weeks, which really can't be good for me.

After he had made himself known to Liz and I, he held something over Liz's mouth, causing her to pass out in his arms. Just as I was about to attack him, he froze me under about three inches of ice. Trust me, ice is _not_ easy to break.

Not long after he had done that, I started to feel lightheaded. I realized that I couldn't breathe. I tried even harder to get out, thrashing and shooting lightning like there was no tomorrow. But all that did was make me lose air faster. I felt myself start to fade, my vision blurring and my thoughts incoherent.

Just as I fell into the void, I started to feel warmer. But that was probably just my body preparing for death.

I sputtered as I awoke, with completely no idea what was going on. The last thing I remembered was…I think it was Nathanial taking Liz. Wait! Nathanial took Liz! I jumped up, but regretted it instantly. My head felt like it was about to fall off, and I ached as if I had been trampled by a horse.

"He's awake!" I heard a voice say. At first, the only thing I could tell was that it was female. I spun around to find the person who had spoken and came face to face with Chloe. "Emma! He's awake!" she said, leaning in and hugging me. It was awkward at first, as I had never been this close to her in my life, but I returned the hug, nonetheless.

"How long was I out?" I asked hesitantly, not sure that I wanted to know the answer. Chloe gave it a few seconds of thought before she replied.

"I think it's been about four hours by now?" she said. Well, more like asked. Either way, I had been out for far too long. Nathanial was definitely gone, and that meant that Liz probably was, too. I had to ask anyway, just to be safe.

"Did Nathanial get away? Did he take her?" I asked, knowing that it sounded like a plea for good news. Judging by the look on her face, I was not about to get it.

"We did the best we could," she said, tears forming in her eyes. As she said it, I felt the small shred of hope I had had disappear. My face fell, and I couldn't find the words to say anything. So I just sat down right where I stood. Nathanial had won.

"Danny! You're awake!" I heard Emma say as she appeared in front of me. I tried to smile at her, but I couldn't make myself even fake happiness. Not at a time like this. In fact, everyone was just too cheery for me. Too happy that I had woken up. Something else had happened that they weren't telling me.

Emma leaned down and hugged me tightly. Too tightly, which only made me more suspicious. As she was hugging me, I whispered in her ear, "What else happened? Where are Jet and Zephyr?"

When I said Zephyr's name I felt her stiffen. Yep. Something was definitely wrong. "Jet's still out searching," Emma said, standing back up and starting to walk away from me.

"And Zephyr?" I said. Despite the fact that I normally didn't like him, I really wanted the guy to be okay. He was one of Liz's best friends, and she would be devastated if something happened to him.

Emma practically collapsed when I asked how Zephyr was. She broke down in sobs, kneeling down, mumbling to herself. I ran to go comfort her, but Chloe jumped in the way, holding me back.

"Give her some time alone," she said to me, her voice grave and her face serious. Whatever had happened to Zephyr, it was _really _bad. And Emma wasn't dealing with it very well.

"What happened?" I asked Chloe in a whisper. She just bit her lip, trying to decide whether to tell me or not. She took a last glance at Emma, who was still in hysterics, and grabbed my hand, leading me into the woods.

We reached a little clearing not too far away. Lying in the center was a body. Zephyr's body. I ran up to him, hoping beyond hope that he was still alive. I collapsed by his head, watching him for signs of life. When I saw his chest rise, even if only faintly, I almost sobbed in relief. You really don't know that you like someone, even in a brotherly manner, until you think they are dead.

"What happened to him?" I asked Chloe, who was now kneeling next to me. I heard my voice crack and knew that I was about to cry, which I really didn't want to do in front of Chloe. Not that I wasn't comfortable with her! I just didn't want to seem that weak.

"He took on Nathanial by himself. Tackled him out of the sky. According to Emma, he stopped Liz's fall, but didn't have enough time to slow his, as well. Completely shattered his arm." Chloe was talking in small sentences, as if she couldn't find the words to say. Just like I couldn't find the words to respond with.

"Did Emma…did she heal his arm?" I asked. His arm looked crooked still, which didn't make any sense. Emma would have healed it the first chance she got.

"It healed wrong," Chloe said, her face going gray. "She didn't have time to do it properly, as a piece of the bone had cut through an important vein. She did the best she could, but…" she trailed off at the end, and I knew why. There was no way Zephyr's arm would ever be the same. Emma's best hadn't been good enough.

"Has he woken up yet?" I asked. As depressing as this topic was, it was better than talking about Nathanial getting away with Liz.

"He lost a lot of blood," Chloe said, her expression worried. "He might be out for a few days. It's for the best, as the pain will be unbearable when he wakes."

Just then, Jet came up behind us. "He's gone," he said. At first I thought he meant Zephyr. I was about to hurt him for even thinking that when I realized that he was talking about Nathanial.

We sat in a circle around Zephyr for a long time. We were soon joined by Emma, who's eyes were red and puffy, her streaks of dirt on her face. We sat in silence for about an hour. I was about to get up when Zephyr groaned. We all bolted to his side, glad for a sign that he might be waking up soon.

After the groan, he muttered many unintelligible things. The only word that I could make out was Kate.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Zephyr

I dreamed that I was back in the castle. That I was a kid again. Life was simple, and everything was the truth because you could trust everyone. I dreamed that Nathanial, Kate, and I were playing hide and seek. Only, I had to call her Liz, like I do now. I wasn't supposed to know who she was, but Kate and Nathanial trusted me.

I was it, searching everywhere I could think of to find the other two. We weren't supposed to be playing in the hallways today, so I had to make it look like I was walking to my room, or to the kitchen, or doing anything that seemed normal. That made my job all the harder. And all the more exciting.

I noticed a movement behind a suit of armor. I was sure that it was Kate, as Nathanial always went and hid in the throne room, a place that I wasn't allowed in. It was his way of always winning, which he had to do. If he didn't win, then it was because we cheated.

I walked by the suit of armor, pretending that I hadn't noticed her. I tried to find a way to watch her without her noticing, and I found it in a mirror at the end of the hallway. In its reflection, I saw Kate crouched behind the suit of armor. I smiled to myself, glad that I had found her already. She was really awful at this game, but I think its because she didn't try. She wanted to be found because she liked searching better.

After I was a safe distance away, I saw Kate creep out from behind the suit of armor. When she was in the middle of the hallway, trying to make her getaway, I turned around and said, "Found you!" She jumped in the air, startled by my voice.

She must have landed badly, as she fell over, which brought on a fit of laughs. I ran over to her, offering my hand to help her up. She gladly took it, but pulled me down instead of allowing me to pull her up. This caused me to start laughing, as well. We lay on the ground, almost in tears, for a good five minutes before we could regain our composure. That's what I loved about being a kid. Everything was fun and funny, and you didn't have a care in the world.

When we had finally stopped laughing, we got up and started searching for Nathanial. We already knew where he was, but we never had time to explore the castle unless we were searching for him. We had already found dozens of secret passageways that Nathanial didn't know of. If he did, he would tell his mom, and then they wouldn't be secret any more. Also, I liked spending time with Kate without Nathanial, though I would never actually tell her that.

We walked around the castle for half an hour, looking for passages we hadn't already found and talking. When we finally decided to go and get Nathanial, I was disappointed. I liked having time to myself, time when I wasn't being bossed around. That's why I liked Kate. Even though I was Nathanial's servant, she treated me like a friend. And a good one, at that.

We walked towards the throne room, talking about why we weren't supposed to be in the halls today. "I think they are having a secret war meeting," I said, a grin on my face.

Kate just shook her head at me. "We aren't at war, silly," she told me. I laughed at that. Of coarse we were at war! We had been since Queen Lydia came to power! I was about to tell her so when she said, "I think Nathanial and his mom are discussing what to get me for my birthday. It's in three days, you know," she said, nodding. _How can she be so naive?_ I thought.

Just as I was opening my mouth to say something, we arrived at the doors to the throne room. I was about to open the door and yell for Nathanial when Kate put her hand on my shoulder, shaking her head. "Let's listen in," she said. "Then we will know who was right," she added with a smile.

Unlike Kate, I could be killed for listening through doors. But I didn't want to ruin her mood, so I nodded, motioning for her to take the keyhole. When she was in place, I knelt down on the ground, watching through the crack under the door.

"I can't keep lying to her, mom," Nathanial was saying. His voice was more of a whine than a plead, like he just wanted something to complain about rather than actually caring that he was lying.

"You must, Nathanial," Queen Lydia said, her voice full of exasperation. She rolled her eyes at him, acting very un-queen like. I had never seen this side of her before, but it seemed to fit her more than the uptight queen she normally acted like. "If Elizabeth found out, the consequences would be severe." She went back to being queen-like when she said the last word. At first, I had couldn't think of who they were talking about. But I felt Kate stiffen next to me, and I remembered. That was the name she went by now. A new name to go with her new face.

"She's going to find out you did it eventually," Nathanial said, his voice low and grumbly. I heard the Queen gasp. "What?" he said defensively. Kate leaned in closer, needing to hear what was said next. I was curious, myself, but knowing something this big could get me killed. I wanted to run away, but I was glued in place.

"If she finds out I killed them, she won't be the only one in pain," the queen threatened. At first, I was confused. Who had she killed? I looked to Kate, wondering if she knew. Judging by the tears streaming down her face, I'm guessing she did. Before I had time to ask her, she bolted down the hallway and went into her room. I followed her slowly, debating whether to give her space or not.

When I went into her room, there was a bag on her bed, already half full with clothes. I hid under her bed as she emerged from her washroom. She had already changed into travel clothes and shifted her appearance slightly. Not much, but enough so that she could get around unnoticed.

She threw another armful of clothes into her bag, and then she was gone. I tried to follow her, but she disappeared into a grate halfway down the hallway of the throne room.

For days after that, every servant was asked if they knew what had happened. I lied, and said no, that I had been in the Nathanial's quarters, preparing his room. The lie came to me so naturally, and I hated it. But I needed to do it for Kate.

Because Kate needed to get away from Lydia. Needed to get away from the person who had murdered her parents.

**Another long chapter! Or, longish… Two in a day! But that's because my Internet was down. Please review!**


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Emma

Zephyr would wake up. He had to. I had saved everyone I had ever healed, and Zephyr was _not_ about to break that record. I don't think I would be able to live with myself if he die…didn't make it.

I sat by his side for three days straight. The others had moved on, planning the best way to get Liz back. Even after the revelation that Nathanial had given us, we refused to call her Katherine, or Kate, or anything other than Liz. That was who she was to us, and nothing would ever change that.

Every time that Zephyr said her name, it was a fresh blow. He didn't know how much he meant to me, and he might never have the chance. I mean, I wasn't going to tell him, but, still, he would have figured it out eventually. But now…I wasn't so sure. He must have really liked Liz, as he said her name every ten minutes or so.

I held his hand the entire time, more to reassure myself than him. I don't know why, but I thought that as long as I didn't let go, he wouldn't either. It was a stupid thought, but it got me through those three days. I hardly slept, I didn't eat, and I never left his side. If he needed me, I would be there. If…when he woke up, I would be there.

His arm caused me pain every time I looked at it. It was my fault that it was messed up. Don't let the others tell you differently. If I hadn't been so hurried and careless when I was healing him, his arm would have been fine. But I was worried that I wouldn't fix it in time, so I rushed and made mistakes. Now his arm was ruined. It stuck out at an awkward angle, the bone having healed in the wrong position. But until he woke up, we wouldn't know how it handled. I didn't think it would, but the others remained hopeful. Damn optimists.

On the night of the third day, Zephyr started to move. And I mean _move _move. He was thrashing around like a mad man, his temperature skyrocketing. He had been in bad shape before, but now… I didn't even want to think about it. I searched his body for infection, but found none. Whatever was happening, there was nothing I could do to help. So I sat there, holding his hand, whispering to him, telling him that he would make it, that he _had_ to make it. For me.

I wanted to call out to the others, but they were too far away, even for our mind link. I reached for my water-skin, but realized that it was almost empty, as was the one I had filled for Zephyr. Making a snap decision, I gave the rest of my water to Zephyr in hopes that it would cool his fever. It went down slightly, which I took as a good sign. I needed to conserve the rest of his water until the others returned. There was no way I was leaving Zephyr's side when he was in this state, so getting water myself was out of the question.

I waited through the night, giving Zephyr a mouthful of water every hour. Even at that rate, I ran out quickly. His fever was going down, which was good. But without the water, it would rise up again, and I would have no way of cooling him down. I worried that, without water, he wouldn't make it through the rest of the night. The others were supposed to get back at sunrise, but I was having doubts that he would be able hold on until then.

"Come on, Zephyr," I said. "Wake up. You can't die on me. You can't leave me." I felt my eyes water over as I said this, and I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. I had held them in since that incident with Danny, but now all of my emotions came spilling out. I cried for a good half hour until my voice went hoarse, and then I cried some more. If I hadn't gotten to Zephyr in time, if I hadn't saved him, then I'm not sure how long it would take me until I could function almost normally again. Probably a few hundred years.

I cried myself into fitful sleep that night, waking up every few minutes to make sure Zephyr was still with me. Every time I fell asleep, I dreamed that Zephyr didn't make it, which bring on a fresh batch of tears. After a few hours of this, I decided to give up on sleep again, like I had for the past few nights. As grim as my reality was, my dreams were worse. So I sat by Zephyr, telling him how much he meant to me, knowing that he couldn't hear me.

It was almost sunrise when he stopped trashing. It wasn't a sudden stop, but a slow decline. The only thing that gave me comfort was that there was now a smile on his face, when there hadn't been previously. I hoped that that meant that he was in less pain, that he was going to wake up soon. I kept checking his vitals to make sure he was still alive, checking his temperature to make sure the fever was gone. Luckily, everything was normal.

It was almost an hour later when Danny, Jet, and Chloe showed up, all exhausted and defeated. Whatever they had been trying, it clearly hadn't worked. We were no closer to getting Liz back than we had been when they left. When they arrived, Chloe instantly gave us a light rain so that both Zephyr and I could become somewhat cleaner. The water shocked Zephyr, causing him to bolt up. Why I hadn't thought of trying this, I will never know.

He only stayed conscious for a few seconds. Long enough to say one word. "Emma."

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	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Danny

In a battle, the only thing you hope for is the end. No matter how hard you fight, the end doesn't come soon enough. You are pushed past what you would normally be able to do, but you somehow still hold on. Hold on to the hope that everything will be better once the battle is over. The thought of losing seems so easy, to just give up and walk away. But you can't make yourself give up. Because you thirst for victory, and _know_ things will be better when you win.

That's what it was like waiting for Zephyr to wake up. There was always the possibility that he wouldn't, but we ignored it. We focused on the positive, doing everything we could to make him comfortable and make sure that he would make it. But I was afraid that it wouldn't be enough.

The only thing that was harder than waiting was watching Emma. She blamed herself, thinking that she hadn't gotten there in time, that she messed up too badly and he wouldn't make it. I personally thought that she got there just in time. Any later, and he wouldn't have made it this long. If she had taken her time in the healing, chances are he wouldn't have survived the night. Emma stayed by his side, refusing to eat or sleep or do anything besides hold his hand. It was painful to watch what she was doing to herself, but we couldn't convince her otherwise. The only thing that could help her now would be if Zephyr woke up. Which was looking more doubtful every day.

Jet, Chloe, and I spent our days training and trying to figure out a way to get Liz back. Every time we said her name, it brought back the memory of what Nathanial had said. Of all the lies she had told. Looking back, they were necessary, but that didn't stop the pain. She hadn't trusted us enough to tell us the truth. No matter how much she might have wanted to, she never did.

We planned hundreds of ways to get into the castle, but each one was less likely to work. What we needed was someone who knew how the castle worked and where they were most likely to keep Liz. We would only have one shot, and we needed it to work. We needed Zephyr. But, seeing as he was…unavailable at the moment, we would have to make do without.

The other flaw in all of our plans is that they required Emma, who was very unlikely to leave Zephyr's side. If I hadn't known better, I would think that she had a thing for him. If she did, then I felt bad for her. He still liked Liz, and would probably never notice her attention until it was too late. I wanted Zephyr to notice Emma, actually, as then he would stop being such a jerk to both Liz and I when we were together. If we ever got her back, that is. I scolded myself for thinking that way. Of course we would get her back! We had to.

"Do you think he will make it?" Jet asked, brining me back to the present. We were sitting by a fire in our original camping ground, while Emma stayed with Zephyr where he had fallen. He was still too unstable to move, and the clearing was too small for all of us.

"I don't know," I said, my voice sounding tired. Then again, I _was_ tired. I hadn't slept a wink since Liz had been taken. Thoughts of all the things they could be doing to her swirled through my head, making sleep impossible. "But I really hope so," I added as an afterthought. Jet just nodded at me, not comforted by my words, as I'm sure he wished to be.

"Emma is good at what she does," Chloe said, staring into the flames. "If anyone can get Zephyr to come back, it'll be her." She sounded so confident, yet so scared. It was an eerie combination that left me feeling neither better nor worse.

Jet and I didn't know how to respond to that, so we just sat there some more, staring into the flames. They reminded me of Liz. She had always started our fires for us, and this one was the only exception.

We sat there for hours in silence, not sure what to say to each other. What _do_ you say when one of your friends is dying? Is there anything you _can_ say to make the pain go away? If there is, then none of us thought of it. So, that's the position we were in three hours later when we heard the scream.

It was definitely a girls scream. That was unmistakable. So, by default, it had to be Emma. The scream didn't last long enough for us to tell what it meant. If it was a scared, happy, or frustrated scream. Or a defeated one. Any one of these emotions could have caused that scream. I was hoping for happy, but that was the least likely one.

We all jumped up at the same time, running to where we had left Emma and Zephyr. What was normally a ten-minute walk we covered in less than three. If I wasn't so worried, I would have been impressed with how quickly we had responded to Emma's scream.

When we first arrived, I thought we had gone to the wrong place, taken a wrong turn. Emma wasn't there, and no one was on the ground. But after I scanned the area, I was sure this was where we had left them. There was the indent that showed where Zephyr had fallen, and the bushes were still crushed from when Nathanial had landed on them.

I was starting to get worried. And, judging by the looks on their faces, so were Jet and Chloe. We started yelling for them, hoping one of them would respond. Looking back, I probably could have found them with my mind, but, when you are as worried as I was, you mind isn't thinking very clearly. You just do the thing that comes naturally. And for me, that is scream and hope you are heard.

We walked around for ten painstaking minutes, screaming their names, listening for responses. When we got none, our worry rose. We had already been on edge, what with Liz being taken and Zephyr on the verge of death, but this, this topped it off.

Two other members of our circle were now missing.

**Happy Fourth of July! Well, at least, that's when I wrote this, it probably won't be posted until the fifth, as that's when I get home, but anyway! Please review!**


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Emma

Okay, leaving wasn't my _best_ idea. But it had seemed like it at the time. Let me backtrack for you.

I had been sitting by Zephyr's side, like I had been for…I don't even remember how long I was sitting there. A little under a week, maybe. Whatever, it doesn't really matter, except to show that I was _really_ tired, so my judgment wasn't at its best.

Anyways, so I was sitting by Zephyr, keeping him cool and that kind of stuff. I wasn't good for much else, as I was exhausted. But there was now way I would leave his side. Not until he woke up.

I finally decided to lie down next to him and try to get some sleep. I could do nothing else for him in my state. I had closed my eyes and was almost asleep when I felt it. A pressure on my hand that hadn't been there before. I bolted up, needing to know what had just happened.

I realized that Zephyr's hand was still in mine, like it had been for the past few days. His hand had caused the pressure. But it was gone so fast, that I was starting to think that I had just imagined it. That's when I felt it again. And saw his finger clench around my hand, squeezing my fingers in his.

I squealed with delight, knowing that, after all this time, Zephyr was finally waking up. I pried my fingers away from his, gaining full use of both hands for the first time in days, and ran over to the bucket of water that Chloe had left for me.

I picked it up and ran back to Zephyr, preparing to pour it on him in hopes of waking him up completely. Just as I was tilting it down, Zephyr groaned, and opened his eyes for the first time in days.

"Zephyr!" I said, tears of joy streaming down my face. I threw myself on top of him, forgetting that he didn't think of me in that way. I had become so accustomed to him not being able to respond that his voice startled me.

"Emma," he said, his voice hoarse. "How long was I out?" His voice was pained, like he didn't really want to know the answer.

"I'm not really sure," I said sheepishly, not wanting to admit that I had lost track of time. "At most a week," I added, hoping that would make him feel not as bad.

I was wrong, though. His face was horrorstruck when the words left my mouth. He shut his eyes, tears streaming down his face now, too. "He got her, didn't he," he said. At first, I was confused about what he was talking about. And then it hit me. The last thing he probably remembered was fighting Nathanial for Liz. I nodded slowly, not trusting my words anymore.

I didn't really need to answer his question, anyway, as it was more of a statement than a question. He already knew what had happened, he was just hoping that I would tell him otherwise. Which I didn't.

Just then, he grunted in pain, having moved his injured arm. That's when he noticed it for the first time. "What…what happened to my arm?" he asked through a choked back sob. This brought on a fresh batch of tears, but theses ones were of despair, not joy.

"I-I did everything I could," I said, choking back my own sobs, now. "But, I-I went to fast in your healing, an-and I-I messed up," I said, speaking quickly and quietly in hopes that he wouldn't hear it. Sadly, he did.

He just stared at me for a few seconds before replying, "It's okay, Emma." His voice was comforting, and he reached out with his uninjured arm to give me a hug. I gladly accepted it. "Shhh, it's okay." I thought that I would be comforting him when he woke up, but this was better. I finally let out all of my emotions, exhaustion taking over. I fell asleep in his arms, my last thought being that I probably should have told the others that Zephyr was awake.

I woke up to the sound of a snapping twig. I quickly jumped up, falling into a fighting stance, ready to fight whatever the noise was. I waited for a few seconds, but the only noises were birds chirping and Zephyr grumbling in his sleep. I waited a while longer, then decided that I had imagined it.

_Crack_! I heard it again, this time, closer. Zephyr, must have heard it, too, as he woke up suddenly and tried to stand up. He fell over almost instantly, as he tried to use his bad arm. It crumpled under his weight.

"What was that noise?" he whispered. I just shrugged at him, unable to answer. I stood in a fighting position for another five minutes, waiting to see what would happen. I was about to let my guard down and go back to sleep when I saw a shadow that shouldn't have been there. It was in the shape of a man, and I heard I mutter a few words, but couldn't make them out in my fear.

I let out a high scream, hoping to alert the others that something was wrong. I quickly grabbed Zephyr, pulled him up, and ran for my life, dragging him behind me. He continually stumbled, but I couldn't hold it against him. He had been lying down for the better part of a week, so he was really uncoordinated and weak.

After we had run for a good ten minutes, I checked behind us to see if we had been followed. Luckily, we hadn't. I sat down, and pulled Zephyr down with me. He collapsed, completely exhausted from the short run. He held his arm, which had been jostled a lot during the run and was causing him considerable pain.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes before I realized that Zephyr had fallen asleep. The run must have taken more out of him than I thought. I sat in the darkness, trying to decide if what I had seen was real or not. Then I remembered the voice. It was one that I had heard before, a long time ago. And then I remembered that it had spoken. It took me a few minutes to remember what it had said, as I hadn't registered it at the time. But when I did, I was baffled.

The voice had said, "Help my daughter. Please."

**Please review! Comments really make my day, even if they are flames! But don't be too harsh, because this is my first fic. We are almost at the climax! I really don't know what I am going to do when I finish, though… Any ideas?**


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47: Zephyr

My arm was killing me. It felt like it had been dipped in a vat of acid. Every movement caused me pain, and every second the pain intensified. One might assume that I would get used to the pain, but that person would be wrong. It kept getting worse, reminding me that my arm was trashed.

I didn't blame Emma. I couldn't. It was my fault. I had gone after Nathanial without back up, and I had tackled him to the ground, causing my arm to break. Emma didn't make those decisions for me. I did. She did the best she could to save my life, and for that I am thankful. If she hadn't got there when she did, I probably would have died.

After I had woken up, I pretty much fell right back asleep, after my short conversation with Emma. I was glad that she was there when I woke up, and not Jet or Danny. That just would have been awkward. Emma just made me happy to be awake, not angry that I had failed at the last task I had tried to perform. Even after days of sleeping, I was still exhausted, so I fell asleep with Emma.

When I woke up to the sound of a cracking twig, a jostled my arm so much I nearly cried. But I was in front of Emma, as I refused to appear that weak. I was almost passed out after that, but Emma grabbed my good hand and helped me run through the woods. Having been dazed with pain, I had no idea why, but I was sure Emma had a good reason.

When we finally stopped running, my chest and arm were on fire. I hadn't done any physical activity in almost a week, and I couldn't take that much exertion. Also, my arm was jostled so much that I thought it was going to fall off. I was actually kind of hoping that it would, as that would save me a lot of future pain in exchange for just a little bit more pain in the present.

The second I lay down, I felt myself slip into unconsciousness. I welcomed it, as it was an escape from the pain. I fell into a fitful sleep. It wasn't really restful, but it was an escape, so I was cool with it.

I was so tired that I didn't even dream, which was unusual for me. I always had dreams, or at least relived a memory. Even right after … the incident I had dreamed. The nothingness scared me. Almost as much as the fear that I would never be able to use my arm again. Which was a very likely possibility.

I woke up to find Emma sitting next to me, a confused look on her face. "How long was I out?" I asked, repeating the fist thing I had said to her the last time I woke up. She jumped a bit, so I guess she had forgotten I was there. Figures.

"A few hours, maybe," she said with a shrug. Emma normally kept a good check on time, so I knew that something was up. She looked preoccupied, like something had been bothering her for the past few hours.

"What's up?" I asked her. I know I could have phrased it better, but I wasn't really thinking straight, and that was the best I could come up with.

"I…I think I saw a ghost," she replied, sounding not very sure of herself. She had a confused look on her face, like she was still trying to decide if what she had seen was real. "What power did the King have?" she asked.

I was so startled by her question that my mouth dropped open. After a few moments, I collected myself and closed it, responding, "Lydia never had a King." I had no idea why she would ask that question, she should have known that. Everyone did.

"No, I meant Li…Kate's father." She stopped herself right before she said Liz. It would take them all some time before they got used to calling her Kate.

"I think he could astral project," I said, racking my brain for the answer. I'm pretty sure that Kate told me that once, how her father used to scare her by astral projecting.

Emma just nodded at this, like it was what she had been expecting. I was extremely confused by her reaction. What had she seen?

"I think he tried to contact me," Emma said after a few moments. "He told me to save her. To save Liz," she said, facing the ground. "We already failed him."

She looked so sad right then, I just wanted to wrap my arms around her and tell her everything would be okay. Which was weird, as I had never been one for physical contact. I settled for just comforting her with words. "We can still save her," I said with more confidence than I actually felt. With my arm, I wasn't sure I could do anything anymore.

When she still looked upset, I tried to move closer to her, but ended up moving my bad arm the wrong way and gasping in pain. Emma was by my side instantly, a worried look on her face. I attempted to smile at her, but it came out as a grimace.

"Let me try to take some of the pain away," she said, putting her hands on my arm and closing her eyes. Her hands started to glow and I felt the pain in my arm lessen. It was still there, but it was considerably left. I sighed in relief, which caused Emma t smile. We sat there for a long time, and I felt comfortable for the first time in a while.

Sadly, the second she took her hands away, the pain returned. I gasped, but tried to disguise it as a cough. I could see that all of my healings were taking a toll on Emma. Her shoulders had a certain slump to them that only power exertion causes. I guess I did a good job in hiding my pain, because Emma just gave me a quizzical look, and then said, "We should probably find a way to contact the others."

"Let's get some sleep first," I said, knowing that she was exhausted, and feeling exhausted, myself. Man, pain is _killer_! It takes everything out of you and leaves you constantly exhausted. I hated it.

Emma just nodded, and then lay her head down. She was asleep within minutes, which only strengthened my theory that healing me took a lot out of her. I couldn't put her through this again, but I wasn't sure that I could live with the pain. Hundreds of ideas started flooding through my head,, but one really stuck out. I fell asleep with a smile, a great plan forming in my dreams.

**Please review! It really makes my day!**


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Emma

I slept fitfully, my mind still on what I had seen. I was certain it had been the King. It was the only somewhat rational explanation. I was also worried about the others. They had no idea where we were and were probably losing their minds right now. I felt kind of bad about it, but it couldn't have been helped.

I woke up feeling only slightly better than I had before I went to sleep. Zephyr, on the other hand, woke up in a rather cheerful mood. "Let's get this day started!" he said excitedly, slowly getting up, being careful with his injured arm.

We started wandering around the forest, having absolutely no idea where our camp was. I considered flying in the air, but Zephyr's arm prevented him from flying correctly, and I didn't want to damage it further. We talked a lot, sharing stories from our childhoods.

"My parents were a duke and duchess when Liz's parents were in power," I said. "But once Lydia took over, she replaced my parents with people who were loyal to her. I lived on the street after that," I finished lamely.

"That's awful!" Zephyr exclaimed. Then he grimaced, having, jostled his arm. This made me feel even worse. I kept wishing that I could help, but easing the pain took a lot of energy, and it only worked for a few minutes.

It must have shown on my face, because the Zephyr said, "I think I know a way to fix my arm." I almost squealed with joy. I would do almost anything to ease his pain right now, especially since I had caused it.

"What?" I asked, eager to hear his idea.

"I need you to re-brake my arm, and then set it correctly and heal it," he said calmly and carefully.

"I-I don't know, Zephyr," I said, my voice quiet. I was not thrilled with the idea of causing him more pain, and it would take an extremely well placed break to be able to make his arm go back to normal. I had thought of this possibility, but I wasn't willing to risk it.

"Please, Emma," he asked, his voice pleading. He was hell bent on this happening, as was evident from his voice.

"Zephyr, it's _extremely_ dangerous," I started. "I would have to break your arm in _just_ the right way, and that way will pierce one of your veins. If I don't heal you within a minute, you'll lose too much blood." My voice was small, but firm. He needed to know all of the risks before he asked me to do this.

"Emma if I go into battle like this, I will die instantly. And yes, I will go into battle," he added upon seeing my shocked face. "I'm willing to take the risks because I trust you," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. It was then that I realized that we had stopped walking.

"And how do you think I will feel if I can't do it, Zephyr?" I asked, playing my last card. I really didn't want to do this, and I was trying to guilt him out of it.

"You won't," he said. His voice was so confident that I almost believed him. I _wanted_ to believe him, but I couldn't. Because if I messed up, then I lost him, which was not something I could do.

"Just try," he said after a few seconds. "Please. For me." And that's when I lost it. Tears started pouring out of my eyes. It might have been from lack of sleep, but I had been feeling really emotional these past few days.

"Aw, shit, don't cry!" Zephyr said, surprise and uncertainty etched on his face. He pulled me into a hug and pat my back awkwardly. I pulled myself together as quickly as I could, his arms providing comfort, no matter how awkward they felt.

"I'll-I'll do it," I managed to stutter out. "But not now. Give me a few minutes to calm down," I added. I was shaking so badly that I wouldn't be able to even heal a scratch, let alone a broken bone and pierced vein.

Zephyr's face lit up at the thought. I was terrified that I would mess up, but if he believed in me, then I needed to give it a try. He _really_ wanted this, and he was right to. I would want the same thing if my dominant arm were crippled.

I started to walk again, deciding that it was the best way to calm down. Zephyr followed me in silence, which I was grateful for. It took me ten minutes, but I finally gained control of myself again.

"Okay, I'm ready now," I said taking a deep breath. I shook my limbs out, trying to release some of my nerves.

"Really?" Zephyr asked excitedly. That was when I knew this was the right choice. The look on his face made up for all the nerves I felt.

"Really," I said with a smile. "But you might want a piece of wood to bite down on. This is going to hurt. A lot," I added, my voice somber. He just nodded, and then went to search for a good piece of wood. When he found one, he came back and grabbed my hand.

"Am I allowed to hold your hand, as well?" he asked. I felt my heart flutter as I nodded my head yes.

I ran my free hand over his arm, searching for the spot that I needed. When I found it, I gave it a few test prods, to see how much force I would need. Sadly, I would need a lot. "Are you ready?" I asked Zephyr, giving his hand a squeeze. He just nodded and returned the pressure.

I gave him a sad smile, and then turned back to his arm. I quickly brought my elbow down on it, knowing I would only have the one chance. Thankfully, I hit it in the right spot. His bone protruded through his skin again, and I pushed it back in, this time with more care. I set his arm properly, and then started to heal it.

I took a break from healing the bone when I saw the pool of blood forming around him. I quickly healed his skin, growing more and more tired by the second. Once his skin and muscle was healed properly, I went back to bone. I was so tired that I hardly noticed that the hand Zephyr was holding had long ago turned numb. But Zephyr was strong. He hadn't let out a single cry of pain.

Ten minutes later, I was satisfied with my work. His arm was as good as new. Zephyr had long since passed out, and I wasn't far behind him.

**This chapter is dedicated to my friend, who, after a long battle with cancer, finally succumbed last night. Goodbye, Sarah. I will miss you so much.**


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Liz

My head hurt. And I mean HURT. It throbbed and ached and whenever I opened my eyes, I instantly regretted it. So, I spent a lot of time sleeping. When I was awake, I tried to piece together what had happened, but my thoughts were so muddled that I couldn't make sense of anything. I just remembered talking to Danny, and then watching him fall. After that, I kept drawing a blank. I didn't even know where I was.

When I was asleep, I didn't dream. I was in blissful ignorance; completely unaware of the pain my body was in. I don't know how long I was…where ever I was. I'm still not sure where I was being held, but it was dark and dank. It smelled of mildew.

One day, at a time when I was conscious, I heard footsteps. There were two pairs. One was heavy and clunky, the other light and agile sounding. In my state, I wouldn't have been able to take them on. Although I REALLY wanted to. Despite the pain my body was in, it was itching for some exercise.

I waited for the footsteps to fade away, but they just kept getting louder until finally the were only a few feet from me. I didn't even bother opening my eyes, knowing I would just feel sick if I did.

"Well, hello there, Katherine." I didn't even need to look at him to know that it was Nathanial speaking. His voice and scornful tone were enough for me. And hardly anyone knew who I really was. They all thought that that girl was dead.

"Nathanial," I managed to croak out. I was surprised by my own voice. It was hoarse and scratchy, and sounded nothing like it normally did. It was then that I realized how thirsty I was. And hungry. I thought that my body had been aching because of a fight or something, but now I knew that I was dehydrated and starving. Which made the pain about ten times worse.

"You don't sound too good," Nathanial said. I could hear the smirk in his voice, and it made me want to hurt him. Sadly, my body wouldn't respond to my wishes. The most movement I could muster was a flutter of an eyelash.

"Should I get her some water?" I heard a voice ask. I didn't recognize it, but assumed that it was a guard by the heavy footsteps I had heard earlier.

"No," Nathanial said, his voice cold. "WE are taking her to more comfortable quarters, and she will be taken care of there.

That's when I remembered one of the reasons I hated Nathanial. All he cared about was himself. He knew how much pain I was in, but he chose to ignore it.

I felt a pair of arms pick me up roughly. The sudden movement made me feel nauseous, but I refuse to be sick in front of Nathanial. I refused to show any weakness. I wanted to whimper in pain every time the person holding me took a step, but I didn't. I bit my lip instead, and I started to draw blood after only a few steps.

Many, agonizing minutes later, we arrived at our destination. I had no idea what it was, as my eyes were still shut, but I could tell we were there when we suddenly stopped moving.

"I have brought the girl," Nathanial's voice said, coming from next to me. So that meant that the guard was carrying me. I should have guessed it, because his arms were softer and gentler with me than Nathanial would have been.

I didn't want to admit it, but Nathanial was only this bitter towards me because I had left. I had hurt him, and this was his way of getting back at me. I tortured him mentally, and now he was torturing me physically.

"Good," I heard Lydia say. My body suddenly grew rigid in anger. She was so close to me, and I was powerless against her. "Make her feel…welcome." The way that she said it, I knew I was going to feel everything but.

I felt myself start to move again. This time, it wasn't as painful. I was better prepared for it, and I didn't feel nearly as nauseous. After a few more minutes, I felt myself et set down on a bed. What ever I had been expecting, it wasn't this. I had been preparing for another dark, dank cellar area. I was not prepared for a bed.

Suddenly, a hand was on the back of my head. I wanted to lash out at who ever it was, but couldn't muster the strength. Surprisingly, the hand was gentle, lifting my head up slightly. I felt a cup being pressed to my lips, and drank the contents greedily. After I finished the first cup, I still felt thirsty.

Sadly, the hand set me back down. I felt better after having a drink, but still not strong enough to sit up. I drifted into unconsciousness a few minutes later.

I woke up feeling slightly better than I had. I gathered enough strength to open my eyes and sit up. Right next to the bed I was laying on was a table with a tray of food on it. I eagerly went to see what I had been given. It was an array of foods that I hadn't seen in years. There were lamb chops and blueberry sauce, with a side of mashed potatoes. I dug in, not even caring if the food had been drugged.

When I had eaten my full, I looked around to see if I had been given a drink as well. Sitting on the nightstand was a pitcher of water and a cup. Ignoring the cup completely, I took giant sips from the pitcher. When my thirst was quenched, the pitcher was almost entirely empty.

I layed back down on the bed, suddenly feeling exhausted. I knew that I should be searching for a way out, but I just couldn't muster the strength. The bed was just too comfortable, and I was too exhausted.

The second my head hit the pillow, I was out cold.

**I am soooooooo sorry for how long I have kept you guys waiting and how suckish this chapter is. I understand it if you don't like me now, and I apologize for how long it has been since I updated. I had a severe case of writer's block. Again, I am sorry!**


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Danny

We had been searching for Emma and Zephyr for a day or two. I wasn't sure anymore since I hadn't slept. All the hours just blurred together, one uneventful search after another. We were getting nowhere with it. I could tell that Jet was freaking out. He had always been able to touch everyone in the circle with his mind, and now three of them were out of his reach.

I was walking through the woods alone. Jet, Chloe, and I had decided to all go alone, as we would cover more ground. Jet kept us constantly connected, so I could feel him and Chloe in my mind, sharing my thoughts. I still wasn't totally used to that, but it was better than the alternative. I don't think I would have been able to walk through the woods alone without them there.

My thoughts kept straying to Liz, or Katherine, or whoever she was. Now that I had had time to get over the shock of her being taken from me, I found myself growing slowly angry with her. She had lied to me from the start. Lied to us all. Only Zephyr had known, and now he was missing, too.

In an attempt to distract myself from my newfound anger, I tried to memorize my surroundings. The trees deep green, covered in moss and leaves. I almost couldn't see the brown of the bark, and wouldn't have seen it if I didn't know it was there. Everywhere I looked, all the trees looked the same, nothing to mark which direction I had come from, or which I should go.

I started to feel suffocated. All I could see was green, a similar color to Liz's eyes. I wished that I could see her again, hold her in my arms, and pretend like all that had happened in the past few days had just been a bad dream.

Sadly, there was no waking up from this nightmare.

I walked through the woods for another hour, the scenery never changing. _This is useless_, I thought. _We are never going to find them._

_Yes, we are, _Chloe responded. I had almost forgotten that they were in my head. Jet and her hadn't said a word in over two hours. Probably because they were having the same, depressing thoughts as I was, and they were just better at hiding them.

_These woods are huge. They could be anywhere, and we aren't even sure that they are still IN the woods._ I was letting out all of my pent up frustration. I could here the anger in my thoughts and felt bad for letting loose on Chloe. This wasn't her fault, and she was probably having the same feelings as me.

_ We'll find them,_ Chloe assured me, but she didn't sound as sure of herself this time. I sighed, ending the conversation. I didn't want to talk about it anymore. I wandered through the woods for another half hour or so when I heard something that didn't sound right. Instead of the normal quiet of the woods, I could hear a soft rumble. It wasn't a menacing sound, just an out of place one.

I listened to the sound for another minute, trying to place it. That's when it hit me. I had heard that noise before, almost every night. _Zephyr. _He snored in his sleep. And it sounded just like the low rumbling I could hear now.

I sprinted toward the sound, a giant sense of relief flooding over me. At least something was going right.

I arrived in a clearing a few seconds later. In the center was Zephyr and Emma, curled up together. I don't know if that was intentional, or they just ended up that way. _I found them!_ I projected through my mind in an almost scream. _I found them,_ I repeated, more quietly this time.

_You did!_ I heard Chloe think. Her voice held the same relief and joy that I felt.

_ Where are you?_ I heard Jet think. That was just like Jet. Getting right down to the point.

_ I have no idea,_ I replied truthfully. I was completely lost.

_ That's okay, I'll find you. Chloe stay where you are. I'll get you, too. _I felt Jet leave my mind, and then Chloe did, too.

"Zephyr, Emma!" I said, finally walking over to them. They both woke with a start and untangled themselves. I could see their faces slowly grow red. "What happened to you guys?" I asked.

"Zephyr woke up," Emma started, and then stopped, looking unsure of her self.

"Yeah, I can see that," I said in a pointing-out-the-obvious kind of voice.

"And then I saw something," Emma continued. She told me the story slowly, like she still only half believed it herself.

"You think you saw the ghost of Liz's father?" I asked, just trying to make sure. If you had asked me if that was possible a year ago, I would have said no. But now… now I thought anything could be possible.

"Not exactly his ghost, but something similar. More like his conscience in a semi-corporal form."

"Let's just stick with ghost," I said. "It's easier to say and explain that way."

**I am soooo sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I have been really busy with my junior year of school. I will try to post a new chapter once a week now. Hopeully people are still reading this!**


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